Not Quite Something
by a1y-puff
Summary: Oneshot collection for Yullen Week. Day 6 - Night Out: So he could only talk to a wall. Preferably, a wall that wouldn't just stare back at him impassively; a wall that had ears that could actually listen to him. A wall by the name of Yuu Kanda.
1. Not Quite a Fight

**Before it caused more confusion, I'm sticking to Blood Soaked Redemption****'s Theme's order!!**

**Which says like this:**

**FINALIZED YULLEN THEMES**

**June 1:** Misunderstanding  
**June 2:** Prank  
**June 3:** Date  
**June 4:** Games  
**June 5:** Doll  
**June 6:** Night Out

**I'm sticking to that order, alright? THANKS!**

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**Title:** Not Quite a Fight  
**Author:** a1y-puff  
**Fandom:** -Man  
**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen  
**Genre:** Hurt/comfort… I guess?  
**Summary:** He was tired. Tired from fighting, from keep having the dream, from feeling like everything turned against him… He was. Just. _Tired_.

**Word Count:** 3277

**Warning: **Possible OOC-ness, a little bit of swearing, and umm.. angsting!Allen?

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, not mine, not mine… *sobs*

**Beta:** tenshi_ai123

**A/N: **Sooo… this is my first entry for Yullen Week in . And apparently, I ended up writing angst again, hahah… and for the life of me, I couldn't write a decent fighting scene D:

Anyway, in Allen's dream, Mana called him 'OOO', just like in the manga. I originally wanted to make it 'XXX', but since the manga used the circle symbol to censor the 14th's name… so yeah, it's 'OOO'.

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**- NOT QUITE A FIGHT -**

_Yullen Week, Day 1_

_Theme: Misunderstanding_

_

* * *

  
_

… Hurt… His chest was hurting… it hurt a lot…

It was dark, he could barely see anything, but he knew something was wrong.

_"… only evil things…? So, why are you suffering?"_

His eyes widened in shock, his surroundings brightened, and Allen found himself bleeding, stabbed to a crumbled wall by his very own Crown Clown in the middle of a ruined city.

_"Stupid child… did you really think that the host body for the 14th could be without sin?"_

_'…what? Where…?'_

_"You didn't bring salvation to all of those tarnished souls; it was the left hand of God."_

_'Ah, this is…'_

_"Your soul is the one that needs to be saved."_

_'…the darned dream, isn't it?'_

Allen glanced up at the mocking sky with narrowed eyes, silently cursing for having another bizarre, annoying dream and urged himself to just wake up already. But suddenly his eyes widened as he remembered what—_who­ _was supposed to show up in this dream. He looked forward expectantly, and found a figure he had always been missing.

"Mana!" he called out, a wide smile spread across the boy's face as his sword faded out and he reverted back to his childhood form.

He ran towards Mana's outstretched hand happily, while the Clown gave him a warm smile in return. He took Allen's little hand, and they walked hand-in-hand, before Mana started to slightly run, dragging Allen' with him.

"Hurry, hurry, 'OOO'!"

"Hey, hold on, Mana! And I'm not 'OOO', just call me Allen, okay?"

Mana turned to look at him, still smiling that clown's smile of his, but Allen found that his eyes weren't really looking at him. "What are you talking about, 'OOO'? You're you, not 'Allen', silly."

Allen stopped dead on his track, his hand slipped away from Mana's hold. Slowly he grew back to his teenager form, clad in his exorcist uniform that for some reason, tainted with blood. Mana stopped walking and turned to look at him, and ask, "What is it, 'OOO'?"

"I'm not 'OOO', Mana, I'm Allen," he looked up a little; a strained smile was on his face. "Please, call me 'Allen'…"

"No."

The quick reply made Allen snap his head upwards to look at his foster father's eyes, which stared back at him coldly despite the smile on his face.

"You're 'OOO', dear. 'Allen' is just a vessel, a host to your memory. I don't care about 'Allen'. All I care about is you, my dear brother."

_'No… that's a lie… no…'_

"I love you, 'OOO'…"

_'NO!'_

* * *

"…up… out…"

_'No… that's a lie… no…'_

"…ker… up…"

_'NO!'_

"Damn it, Beansprout, wake up!"

Allen's eyes snapped open, and he promptly shot up in bed, panting heavily. What was going on? Where was he? Where was Mana? Half of his soul was still left in the dream, his eyes stared into nothingness, his breathing shallow and rapid, and he gasped for air.

_'Mana… Mana…'_

"Idiot, look at me!" Allen felt hands on his cheeks, before his head was twisted to one side and Kanda's scowling face came into view. "Now, breathe. Slowly…"

Allen followed the instruction, trying to control his breathing. His hands crept up to hold Kanda's that were still on either side of his face, anchoring himself to reality, to tell himself that it was only a dream, that he was now awake, that there was no Mana…

_No Mana…_

Allen closed his eyes, and gradually, his breathing was stable and his shoulders relaxed. Noticing the signs, Kanda pulled away his hands and che'd at him before stepping back. Allen opened his eyes again to take in his surroundings, remembering that he was currently on a mission with Link, Kanda and Lenalee, and now they were in their inn's room, and Lenalee was in a separate room than the three.

Right, this was the reality. What Mana had told him had only been a dream.

It wasn't true…

_"I don't care about 'Allen'."_

…or was it?

"You were moaning in your sleep and you looked pained, so we decided to wake you up," Link stated flatly, still clad in his pajamas with his hair sticking out of the braids.

Allen hung his head low enough, and when Timcanpy landed on his lap looking worried, he forced an "I'm fine" answer. "It's just a nightmare," he added, reassuring himself more than anyone else.

_"All I care about is you, my dear brother."_

"It was only a nightmare…" he repeated.

_"I don't care about 'Allen'."_

_'No… It's a lie, right, Mana?'_

The room was silent as Allen drowned himself in insecurities and confusion, while Kanda and Link could only exchange a look.

"You look rather burdened these past few days, Walker," Link began, "I'm not an expert in this, but Maybe Lenalee Lee was right. It might make you feel better if you just talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about," Allen quickly responded.

The white haired boy sighed and kept silent. He knew the night was still long, but he didn't feel like going back to sleep. He didn't want to see Mana saying those words again… the words that was aimed for—he glanced to the mirror to see a shadow of the 14th—his 'other self'.

_'It's getting more frequent and vivid… the bloody dream.'_

Before Allen could drown himself more in remorse, he felt a material was dumped onto him, and he looked up to see Kanda glaring down at him. "Put it on," he ordered.

Allen blinked and just stared at his fellow exorcist who was now tying his hair in his usual high ponytail before putting his exorcist coat just over his sleepwear. The younger teen then glanced down to his lap, and found out that it was his exorcist coat that Kanda threw at him earlier.

"Are you deaf, Beansprout? Put your coat on! We're going out."

Allen wasn't really coherent to retort to Kanda's harsh words, so he just grumpily put on his coat and stood from his bed, Timcanpy fluttered above his head before settling down on Allen's white, fluffy head.

"Where are we going?"

"Out," Kanda simply replied, ignoring the glare he received from the younger boy.

"Wait. I cannot allow you to take Walker out without supervision, Exorcist Yuu Kanda," Link spoke up, his eyes forbidding.

Kanda che'd at him before replying, "Whatever. You can stalk us if you want."

Allen himself didn't know why he was complying. It wasn't like he had to obey Kanda, and he wasn't even sure what Kanda possibly wanted from him. But his mind was rather in chaos, now that he still remembered every part of his dream rather vividly, and he certainly wasn't getting any sleep, so he thought he'd just go and see.

It turned out that Kanda brought him to a nearby forest just outside of the village. The samurai led the way until he found a clearing, then he stopped and turned to face Allen, who only raised an eyebrow in question.

Allen was alarmed when Kanda unsheathed Mugen and activated it. He glanced around; seeking for a sign of Akuma, but his left eye wasn't reacting. "Kanda…?" he called; his tone anxious.

"Activate your Crown Clown. Fight me."

"What?! No!"

"I cannot allow that," Link stepped between the two, his face and voice stern.

"Shut the hell up!" Kanda pushed Link aside, then turned to Allen, "Do it, Beansprout!"

"No! Are you out of your mind?" Allen yelled back.

"Kaichuu Ichigen!" Kanda began without warning; releasing his attack that forced Link to jump aside, Timcanpy zoomed away from the British boy, and Allen activate his Innocence to shield himself.

There was silence after the first Attack, and Allen took the time to glare at Kanda, who just returned it with his cold stare.

"Yuu Kanda, explain yourself!" Link demanded as he stomped to the Japanese exorcist.

Kanda che'd again, before pointing his sword to Allen's direction and calmly spoke, "This useless brat over there has been distracted with his personal woes during our mission. He's only going to be a hindrance if he goes on like that, so I'm going to smack some sense into that useless head of his."

Allen was, as much as he hated to admit it, _hurt_ by Kanda's cold—and rather harsh—statement. He hated how the Samurai was right about him being distracted, hated his lack of sympathy, and hated how Kanda's words affected him so much that it hurt.

"Step aside, Link," Allen spoke in a cold and detached way as he started to walk towards Kanda, who immediately took his stance, ready for an attack.

Link jumped backwards just in time when suddenly the two exorcist launched themselves at each other, and the sound of metal clashing against metal echoed through the silent night.

"You only care about missions, don't you?" Allen asked coldly between slashing and deflecting attacks, his voice eerily calm which meant he was beyond pissed off. Even his attacks were fiercer than the ones he usually launched whenever he sparred with his comrades.

"I'm an exorcist. Naturally, my priority is my mission, stupid," Kanda replied just as calmly, his movement fluid and graceful as usual, leaving no opening for Allen to attack.

Suddenly Kanda gave an unexpected blow that Allen had no time to deflect, and he was thrown a few meters back, crashing onto a tree. He winced in pain as he felt the back of his head throbbed, before opening his eyes only to find the tip of Mugen right in front of his face.

"See how useless you are, bean? You have so many openings I wouldn't be surprised if you got yourself killed one of these days."

Allen glared up at Kanda, anger was evident in his silver eyes. He hated the cold tone of voice Kanda used, hated the indifference directed at him, hated the way Mugen was mercilessly pressed on his right cheek, drawing blood from it… he hated himself for even having a thought that Kanda might care for him at all. Seriously, what did he expect this cold-hearted jerk to do? Sympathize with him?

What had gotten into him for even thinking about it? When did he become so… so _weak_?

Kicking Kanda's abdomen hard, Allen took the moment Kanda steadying himself to jump on his feet and charged forwards, slashing his sword to the Samurai only to have it deflected by Mugen.

"What do you know about what has been distracting me? You can only judge and deem people worthless just because they don't meet your expectation without even _looking_ at them. You heartless bastard…"

"Think what you want, I don't give a damn," Kanda retorted calmly, and Allen thought he saw something flickered in those cobalt eyes, something that he couldn't really place. But right now, he didn't care, he was too busy attacking—he was angry, _frustrated._

And so he vent out his frustration through every slash, every thrust of his sword—venting out his anger to the Samurai who seemed to only have added fuel to the fire. Allen knew he wasn't quite himself right now. He knew he shouldn't do this. Kanda _is _a jerk—a cold, heartless bastard, but aiming his anger for something else at Kanda wasn't right.

He should be angry at himself.

Having his mind invaded with self-loathing made Allen fail to see the attack coming from his side. He barely dodged the sword when he felt himself kicked, _hard_, and he painfully thrown to the ground, with Mugen landed just a few centimeters next to his neck.

He glance upwards to see Kanda's steely eyes, the Samurai's demeanor was cool despite the blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth and a few minor injuries here and there. He felt his chest being stepped on by Kanda—not hard enough to actually hurt him, just enough to make him unable to move.

And Allen found himself didn't care anymore.

He was tired. Tired from fighting, from keep having the dream, from feeling like everything turned against him… He was. Just. _Tired_.

"Sometimes I wonder why everything I care for seems to betray me," he started weakly, feeling like speaking out loud, not caring that Kanda could actually hear him.

"The order now sees me as an enemy. My master actually was carrying the 14th's will. My Innocence hurt me. And Mana…"

Allen trailed off as he gazed pass Kanda to the crescent moon above, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and sighing heavily.

"Mana never loved me…" he whispered.

Silence hung around them once more, and Allen kept his eyes closed. He didn't expect Kanda to respond—hell, he doubted the rude Japanese was actually listening at all. He might as well talk to a wall, which was probably why he started talking to begin with.

So of course, he didn't expect the question that flowed out of Kanda's mouth, "Did he ever tell you that?"

The younger teen blinked his eyes open and stared up at his fellow exorcist. A rather unintelligence "Huh?" was all that managed to escape his lips.

"Your foster father," Kanda began again, slightly annoyed at having to repeat himself, but he did it anyway. "Did he ever tell you he never loved you?"

"No, not before. But I keep having a dream where he does," Allen sighed.

For a moment, none of them spoke, and Allen wondered why Kanda bothered to ask at all, and why did he even tell the jerk about his dream.

"You really _are_ an idiot," he suddenly heard Kanda said, and he glanced up in time to see Kanda sighed at him.

"Excuse me?" Allen scowled; not really liking the way Kanda called him an 'idiot' when he thought the other was way more of an idiot than himself.

"You. Are. An. Idiot." Kanda deadpanned, before continuing, "Depressing over some stupid dream where clearly the person in it isn't even real."

"Well, it's true that Mana never told me that when he was alive, but it's a possibility that he had been feeling that way, isn't it?"

"And it's _also_ a possibility that this 'Mana' had actually cared for you, Beansprout. Can't that stupid head of yours think from the other side of things?"

"But—"

"Look," Kanda cut him off, "Your father is _dead. _You turned him into an Akuma and then killed him, sending his soul to where it belonged. So there's no way the Mana in your dream could be your dead father, so stop depressing over whatever that fake Mana told you in your fucking dream."

Allen could only stare at the older boy in disbelief—a good kind of disbelief. Was Kanda actually trying to make him feel better?

"And as for the order, you know the higher-ups consist of jerks like Leverrier—some even worse, so why even give a damn about how they see you? General Cross was also a bastard to begin with, and you knew it damn well. Be thankful that he actually cared enough for you. Your Innocence? You have a fucking Noah in you, so of course Crown Clown can hurt you. Live with it, and just don't let that damned Noah take over you, or I'll kill you."

For a moment, Allen was… _speechless_. He didn't know what to say. Never once had he thought there would come a day when Kanda _actually_ being nice to him like this.

"Wow. I must look _really_ pathetic for you to actually try to cheer me up," Allen commented, and he couldn't help the smile that involuntarily spread widely across his face.

"I'm only stating facts, and yes, you _do_ look so damn pathetic, Beansprout. So get your sorry ass up and act like a man."

"Oh? You're not going to… finish me off or something?"

"I don't want to waste more energy," Kanda simply stated as he removed his foot from Allen's chest, pulled Mugen from the ground and sheathed it, then he added, "And you've vent them all out, haven't you?"

And that was when it dawned on Allen, the reason why Kanda wanted to fight him in the first place, why he acted like a total jerk and keep pressing on his buttons. He had misunderstood the older teen. It wasn't because Kanda was heartless, wasn't because the Samurai hated his guts.

It was because, in his own bizarre way, Kanda _cared _for him.

"Darn, I think I'm going to cry," Allen muttered as he covered his eyes with his right arm, a warm smile spread on his face as salty liquid began to trickle down his cheeks.

He heard Kanda scoffed at him and mocked, "Figured that you'd still be a crybaby."

"Oh, shut up, BaKanda," he retorted, still lying down on the ground and hiding his eyes with an arm.

"Beansprout."

"The name's Allen."

"A bean sprout is a bean sprout."

"I figured that you'd be too stupid to even say my name correctly."

"I'm going to kill you."

"You just missed your chance, too bad."

"If you two are done then we are going back to the inn. _Now._" Link interrupted the banter, and that was when the two exorcists remembered that the inspector was actually still there.

"Yes, yes," Allen waved his Innocence hand before wiping away his tears and standing up.

Link immediately turned his back and made his way to the village direction, ripping a page from his notebook that contained his report on an inappropriate battle between exorcists and slipped it into his pocket to throw away later. He didn't think such _trivial_ matter was necessary to be reported.

Kanda had already walked away when Allen was still busy dusting his clothes off, and the younger boy spent a few seconds to stare at the Japanese's retreating back. He then absently touched his chest, and somehow, it felt way lighter than it had been for the last few days. It was true that none of his problems were solved—the order would still see him as a threat, his Master's condition was still unknown and made it impossible to ask for clarifications, his Innocence was still going to hurt him together with the 14th, and there was still that little thought nagging at the back of his mind that Mana didn't actually love him.

But he would live with it. He'd keep walking and create his own path, believing in himself that he could do it—he'd keep going forward.

Because there were people here that actually cared for him.

Like Kanda.

He smiled to himself as he broke into a small run to catch up with the others, and then let himself fall into step with the raven haired male. Allen made sure that the distance between them and Link was decent enough, before calling the older boy, "Hey, Kanda."

"What?" Kanda merely glanced from the corner of his eyes.

Allen raised his right hand and gestured with his forefinger for the older teen to come closer, and Kanda raised an eyebrow before leaning slightly down, thinking that the brat wanted to whisper something he didn't want Link to hear.

Instead, Allen gave him a light peck on his left cheek.

"Payback," Allen simply stated with a devious grin, then he ran ahead before Kanda could react and press Mugen on his throat.

Kanda froze on his spot, a red hue starting to creep up his face. When he came to, his hand automatically grabbed Mugen and he yelled at the top of his lungs,

"I'M SO GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, BEANSPROUT!!!"

**-NeverEnding-**

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**A/N:** Umm… yeah… so much for the 'misunderstanding' theme, I know. *cowers*. And I couldn't really make a decent last line T_T

And well, Kanda's rather talkative over here, eh? A bit OOC, but I kinda like it XD;; (And why do I tend to make Kanda act violent to show that he cares? O.o)

Aaanyway, first entry of Yullen Week, yay! Please let me know what you think of it, okay? Reviews make me _really _happy and motivate me to write more, so please do!


	2. Not Quite a Lie

**Title:** Not Quite a Lie  
**Author:** a1y-puff  
**Fandom:** D. Gray-Man  
**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen  
**Genre:** Romance/Humor  
**Summary:** Lavi wondered why Kanda and Allen were so keen on getting on each other's neck every time they meet, and he wondered what would happen if he told both of them the other actually loves him.

**Word Count:** 3483

**Warning: **Switching POVs. Possible OOCness.

**Disclaimer:** If I own DGM, it'd go on a hiatus even more often than it is now. :P

**Beta:** tenshi_ai123

**A/N: **Second entry for Yullen Week. The theme called for a lighthearted one, so here you go . I personally think it's a little bit weird.. maybe… but I don't hate it XD;;

* * *

**- NOT QUITE A LIE -**

_Yullen Week, Day 2_

_Theme: Prank_

_Setting: Canon_

* * *

It was a fine morning in the Black Order when Lavi bumped into Allen and Link on his way to the cafeteria. He greeted Allen with a wide smile despite his sleepiness for having to stay up all night, and then having a date with a bunch of thick books and the old Panda in the library.

They cheerfully ordered their breakfast; Lavi with a simple Omelet Rice, Allen with his mountain of food, and Link with his daily dose of cakes. Lavi's eyes scanned the area to find a seat for the three of them, when a certain Samurai's figure caught in his visions, so he promptly shouted his greeting, "Yuu-chaaan~!"

Said 'Yuu-chan' threw a death glare in Lavi's direction, which seemed to never have effects on the redhead, and even though he knew it was futile, just for the sake of routine, he glowered, "Stop fucking calling me by my first name, you idiot rabbit!"

Lavi's grin didn't falter, and he sat himself beside Kanda while Allen took seat across the Japanese, with Link next to him. The bookman junior could practically see a vein popped on Kanda's forehead as his solitary was disturbed by three people, and his field of vision was blocked by Allen's mountain of food.

"Why the hell are you morons sitting here?" he growled menacingly.

Lavi didn't have the chance to respond when Allen calmly retorted from behind his pile of food, "I thought this was a public place, unless you're stupid enough to not realize that?"

Another vein popped on Kanda's temple, and it was times like this that made Lavi wonder about Allen's ability—and courage—at pressing Kanda's buttons.

"Shut up, Beansprout! Go sit somewhere else!"

"The name's Allen, BaKanda. Gee, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"Don't bother telling me. Your height makes you a bean sprout. Go blame your freaking hormones." Kanda smirked triumphantly, knowing that he had just pushed the right button.

"Urgh… I will outgrow you, someday," Allen pointed an accusing finger from between plates at Kanda's nose, and added, "Prick!!"

Slurping his Soba, Kanda then make to swallow the noodles, before smirking at the British exorcist, and replied, "If that day comes, I'll hit your head with the stupid rabbit's hammer so you'll be a bean sprout again."

"Why, you—"

"Now, now, you two, calm down, okay?" Lavi interrupted the bickering, and both of them glared at each other one last time before turning their attention back to their food.

Audibly sighing, the redhead then took another look at his two friends still throwing glares at each other every now and then, and Lavi wondered why exactly these two couldn't stop fighting.

And then an idea came to his head. A mischievous one that was more than brilliant, actually, But still, Lavi was curious—both as bookman Jr. and as 'Lavi'—as to what kind of outcome would it be if he were to do this.

Their reactions might serve as a good addition to their individual data in Lavi's head.

* * *

"Yuu-chaaan~!"

Kanda stopped dead on his track in the hallway when he heard that stupid rabbit's voice calling out to him. "Don't fucking call me with my first name, damn it!" he growled, pointing Mugen at Lavi's throat.

Lavi raised his hands in front of his chest, and began, "Anyway, I have something to talk about with you."

Finally sheathing his sword, Kanda asked, "What is it about?"

"It's about Allen—"

"Not interested," Kanda curtly replied as he made to leave the redhead.

"Wait a second, Yuu-chan! I know you want to hear this!" Lavi grabbed the Asian's wrist, slightly wavering to receive a close-up death glare from Kanda.

To his surprise, however, Kanda didn't resist further and grudgingly said, "Make it quick."

"Well," Lavi began, absently wondering if he'd get intimate with Mugen again after saying it, but he said it anyway, "I think Allen loves you."

For a moment, Kanda gave him a rather blank look, and then he scoffed. "Like hell I would believe that kind of crap."

"But come to think of it, seeing how he behaves around you, it makes sense, you know," the redhead insisted.

"By being such an ass? Right." Kanda sarcastically remarked.

"Exactly, Yuu-chan! No one else dares to bother you, let alone constantly getting on your nerves and fight with you! It's his way to approach you, since you're so damn difficult—"

"You're constantly getting on my nerves too, stupid rabbit. Does that mean you love me too, then?" the long haired teen snorted.

"Well, no, but…"

"So shut the hell up! I'm not taking any of this crap."

"But Yuu-chan, don't you see that Allen's more honest when he's around you compared to anyone else?" Lavi nearly yelled in exasperation.

That seemed to catch Kanda's attention. The resident samurai turned his head to look questioningly at the redhead, and Lavi was betting this chance to convince the Japanese.

"I think you've realized that Allen's gentleman attitude doesn't come _naturally_, haven't you?"

Kanda didn't reply, but his silence itself was enough of an answer for Lavi.

"You realize how he almost always _drops_ the 'act' when he's around you?"

Now that he actually said it, Lavi kind of just realized how true his own words were, and he made a mental note that in a way, Kanda and Allen might actually make good friends.

"Just… watch him for a few days, and then you can decide whether what I'm telling you is true or not, okay?"

Lavi grinned and gave the samurai a mock two-finger salute before leaving Kanda to ponder over things on his own.

* * *

"Hey, Allen, can I talk to you for a bit?"

Allen looked up from his paperwork as he saw Lavi came up to his desk in the library. He smiled at his friend and gestured for the older boy to sit down next to him, and then asked, "What is it. Lavi?"

"Well you see, it's about Yuu-chan…"

"Kanda?"

"Yes, and actually, it's rather private, so…" Lavi glanced across the table at Link, who was diligently reading a book about cakes.

Sensing the redhead's eyes on him, the inspector raised an eyebrow, but made no other move.

"Uh, Link, Lavi wants to say something private here, can you leave for a bit?" Allen tried to politely ask his supervisor.

Link took a moment to ponder, before finally deciding that interfering with Walker's personal life wasn't included in his job, so he stood up, took his book with him, and moved to another table not far enough to let the white-haired exorcist out of his sight, just enough to give the two some privacy.

"So, what is it about Kanda?" Allen started when Link was finally out of hearing range.

Lavi smirked, barely restraining himself from grinning ear-to-ear. He absently wondered if he had adapted the 'Lavi' persona so much that he truly enjoyed pulling this prank on his fellow exorcist.

"See, it's actually been nagging in my mind for quite a while," Lavi began as he inched closer. Putting on a serious look, he then gestured for Allen to come closer and whispered, "I think "Yuu-chan is actually in love with you."

For a few seconds, Allen could only stare wide-eyed at Lavi, looking seriously and utterly dumbfounded…

…before he broke into a fit of laughter, clutching at his sides like his life depended on it.

"Uh… why are you laughing?" asked Lavi.

At the comment, Allen's laughter died down, and he tilted his head up as he asked back, "I'm not supposed to laugh?"

"Uh… no?"

"It's a joke, right?"

_No, it's a prank, _Lavi answered in his head, but outwardly, he solemnly shook his head, and stated, "I mean it."

"…you seriously want me to believe that?"

"Why won't you believe that? Even Yuu-chan _is _a human, you know," Lavi reasoned, trying his best to sound convincing, because really, even he himself couldn't quite believe the lie that he made up himself.

"Well yeah, but… If that's the case, it's more believable if you told me he loves Lenalee. I mean, he's actually being kind around her, isn't he?"

"No, not Lenalee," Lavi answered a little too quickly, and Allen arched an eyebrow, so Lavi quickly added, "See, Yuu-chan has known Lenalee ever since they were little. To him, Lenalee is like a sister. Well, she's a 'sister' figure in general, you know. Even you also feel that way, right?"

"Hmm…" Allen hummed his acknowledgment, but the younger boy looked like he had realized something by the way Lavi reacted to the mention of Lenalee's name.

"Look," Lavi put on a more serious face than before, attempting to avert Allen's attention from the Lenalee topic, "Think about it. Yuu-chan barely gives a damn about people more than necessary, let alone talks to them. But you, you actually got him to _bicker_ with you!"

"He bickers with you too," Allen calmly said.

_Damn, _Lavi cursed inwardly, racking his brain for a comeback. Then, he suddenly remembered something, so he promptly said, "Well, not as much as with you! And Yuu-chan gives you a nickname, too. He called you 'Beansprout', right? Isn't it endearing?"

"Duh, he has a nickname for you too, 'stupid rabbit', does that mean he loves you too?"

Lavi palmed his face and muttered, "Damn, you both are so similar, in a sense…"

"Excuse me?" Allen frowned, not really liking the idea of being similar to the homicidal Samurai.

Lavi kept quiet for a while, thinking that convincing Allen was more difficult than Kanda, since none of the Japanese's act towards the British boy indicated any of what Lavi had said.

"Okay, here's the deal," Lavi finally spoke, and he was betting on what he had told Kanda on this, as he said, "Just pay attention to him for a while, and find out yourself whether what I'm telling you is right or not."

At Allen's arched eyebrow, Lavi added, "See, I often catch him looking at you—and I mean _looking, _not glaring. Just see for yourself."

If the ideas he had put into Kanda's head was working, the Samurai should be really looking at Allen from time to time. So he was going to bet on that.

As he excused himself from the white haired exorcist—who was still looking at him weird—Lavi couldn't help thinking how fun it would be to see their reactions to each other after this. Would they still glare at each other? Would they be embarrassed, or would they act like nothing happened?

For now, he would just wait and see.

* * *

Kanda cursed himself as he realized he had just been watching the bean sprout for the nth time that day. This time, it happened in the common room. He blamed the stupid rabbit and would be gladly strangle the redhead for giving him ideas that for the past few weeks, he would find himself staring at a certain white-haired Shorty. Too bad that said rabbit was currently gone on a mission, so he couldn't kill Lavi right now.

To be honest, he was, in some ways he'd rather not admit, drawn by a certain bean sprout named Allen Walker. He wasn't sure if his interest in Allen was romantic in context. It was just that he was intrigued by the fake gentleman who suffered from a martyr complex that was Allen. Kanda knew Allen wore layers of masks, and he was rather curious to which one is Allen's real self.

Yes, he was just _intrigued_, but that in itself was already unusual for Kanda, because he just didn't generally interested in people at all.

But something in that Moyashi was…

As Kanda turned his head to _accidentally _take a glimpse of a certain white haired teen, his eyes caught Allen's grey ones as the younger teen seemed to have been watching him when Kanda wasn't looking his way.

Come to think of it, Beansprout seemed to have been looking at him too this past few weeks. It wasn't rare that their eyes would sometimes meet, only to look away from each other the next second.

So the bean sprout really had been watching him, but why?

But somehow, he didn't like the effect that stupid brat had on him every time his grey eyes landed on him. It made him feel kind of… _funny,_ and he didn't like it at all, just because he couldn't really figure out what kind of feeling it was.

When his eyes once again caught Allen's, the Samurai decided to glare at him before the younger boy could look away, and in return, Allen arched his eyebrow in question.

_Oh, screw this!_

* * *

Allen frowned as he found Kanda stomping into his direction, looking all angry. Why would the stupid Japanese be angry at him when he hadn't even started their regular verbal fights? Well, yes, Allen was aware that he had been staring at the samurai a lot these days, but wasn't it because Kanda was the one who started their 'staring match' in the first place?

Or so Lavi said.

Right, that bookman Jr. sure had given him ideas that he actually started looking at Kanda every now and then, just to see if Kanda had actually been watching him. And all those time he spent gazing at the Asian, Allen found himself drawn into Kanda, in one way or another. It wasn't really his beauty, nor was it his cold demeanor, but something in Kanda attracted him. It wasn't like those kind of romantic feelings, it felt more like a force of gravity, really—Kanda just drew him for some reason he couldn't really decipher.

And apparently, Kanda really had been watching him too. Allen wasn't sure what Kanda's gazes meant, though. They didn't really look like those of a love-sick throw at their love interest, but neither were those showed hostility.

Well, at least not until Kanda had actually glared at him just now and began stomping his way to Allen.

And without warning, grabbed Allen's wrist and drag him outside the room.

"Kanda? What the hell?" Allen tried to break free from Kanda's grasp, but the older boy had a death grip on his wrist and wouldn't let go.

Seeing his charge being dragged away, Link immediately followed but made no move to help Allen freeing himself since he didn't think it was his job—he was only to _watch_ Allen Walker, not interfere with his personal matters.

"Hey, BaKanda, let go of me already," Allen started again, not liking the way he was dragged through hallways and attracted attention from some people they passed by—including a certain gaping redhead who had just gotten back from his mission with Bookman, Lenalee and Chaoji who threw them odd and curious look.

When Kanda kept pulling him in long strides and didn't even respond to the name-calling did Allen start to get concerned. Something was wrong with the long haired male.

"Kanda?" Allen called, but he got no response. "You know, if you need to talk, you could just tell me where we're going and I'd walk with you, no need to drag me all over the place—oomph!"

Allen bumped into Kanda's shoulder when the taller teen made an abrupt stop. He blinked his eyes and briefly noticed they were in front of a store room, before he was suddenly pushed into the room.

"You wait outside!" he heard Kanda ordered Link before kicking the door shut rather harshly. Then, the Samurai walked to him, with a less-angry-but-still-rather-unfriendly look on his face, and the next moment, Allen found himself being shoved to the wall.

And, before Allen could react, he found a pair of lips pressed—no, _crushed_ his.

It was more of a bump of their lips rather than a kiss, really.

It didn't last long, and Kanda pulled away, stepped back a little, and palmed his face while muttering some things in Japanese that kind of gave Allen the impression the Samurai was cursing himself.

Allen slowly raised his hand and fingered his lips, tracing the area where Kanda's lips had previously been. "What was that?" he asked when he finally found his voice back.

Kanda didn't answer immediately as he didn't know why he did what he'd done. It just… _happened._

"Like hell I know!" came the harsh reply. But even though the room was dark, Allen could still catch the blush that slowly spread on the other teen, thanks to his night vision.

Something about that sight made Allen's chest warm.

"Oh well," the British shrugged, and then he grabbed the front of Kanda's shirt, pulling him forward to land his lips on the other's, but this time, the contact between their lips was gentler, longer, _warmer._

Now _that_ was a kiss.

"That's better," Allen smiled as he pulled away made his way to the door. But suddenly, the swordsman grabbed his upper arm, making the white haired teen turn his head only for his lips to get acquainted once more with Kanda's.

It looked like the Japanese still didn't like to lose to him, even in kissing, because somehow, Kanda's kiss was now far better than his first attempt. It lacked the gentleness like what Allen had given him, but still, it felt warm and it left the younger boy breathless when they slightly pull apart just to catch their breath.

Before they had the chance to register what had just happened, they heard someone shout from the doorway, "Holly shit!!"

Both of them immediately looked at the door, at a very shocked Bookman apprentice standing rooted to his spot from the door. Having regained his composure first, Kanda stepped back and cursed under his breath, "Shit."

"You didn't lock the door, BaKanda?" Allen asked disbelievingly, pointing his finger to the doorway.

"I forgot, damn it! You could've reminded me."

"How the bloody hell was I supposed to know you were going to kiss me?"

"Oh, shut up! It was your fault for keep staring at me, Beansprout!" Kanda ran his hand through his own dark locks; an exasperated look crossed his Asian features.

At that, Allen blinked, and scowled. "That was only because _you_ keep looking at me, BaKanda."

"But didn't you start it first?" Kanda frowned at the younger boy.

"Huh?" Allen blinked, "I thought you started it first? Lavi said—"

Both of them fell silent and could only stare at each other, before simultaneously turning their heads to the Bookman Jr. with a glare. Lavi decided it was time to flee and save his ass by saying, "Uh, guys? I promise I won't tell anyone about this, so…" the redhead took a tentative step back, "don't fight and uh… have fun?"

Then, Lavi carefully closed the door behind him and bolted out to the direction where he came from. Surely, when he had planned to pull this prank, he hadn't expected it would result into something this drastic.

But then this had proven to be really good data to store into his head. It had also proven his theory that in one way or another, both of them were actually… _compatible._

Smirking to himself, Lavi decided to think about how to deal with those two later. For now, he would enjoy the triumphant feeling of having his prank worked much better than he had expected it.

It turned out that his little lie to each of them hadn't been quite a lie, after all.

**-NeverEnding-**

**

* * *

**

**-** **Omake -**

Kanda and Allen could only stare at the closed door where Lavi had been just a while ago, before the Samurai started gritting his teeth and murderously muttered, "I'm so going to kill that stupid rabbit."

Allen kept quiet for a while, before shrugging once more. "Oh well… I don't really hate it…"

"The rabbit?"

"No. The kiss, you idiot."

"Oh," Kanda awkwardly replied.

"Do you hate it?" Allen asked despite himself, and added as an afterthought, "Though you really were the one who started it…"

Kanda spent a few moments studying his smaller companion who looked rather nervous despite the obvious effort not to appear that way, before abruptly cup Allen's face and leaned in for another lingering kiss.

It ended as abruptly as it started, and Kanda pulled away while licking his lips. "No, I don't," he finally replied to the boy's question. He began to walk away to the door, but then glanced back and smirked, "You don't taste that bad, Beansprout."

_Not bad at all._

"The name's Allen, BaKanda," Allen retorted, but the smile playing on his lips betrayed the insult he just threw at the older man.

"Whatever," the Japanese waved a dismissive hand and walked out the room, still smirking.

Kanda wouldn't mind tasting Allen again.

**.fin.**

* * *

**A/N: **Umm... yeah, it didn't really turned out like how I originally wanted it to be and I'm not really satisfied with this, but I don't hate it. And I had no time to write anything else, so this is it for today's theme ^^;;

Reviews would be very much loved, so please do! Thanks for reading ^^


	3. Not Quite a Bad Day

**Title:** Not Quite a Bad Day  
**Author:** a1y-puff  
**Fandom:** D. Gray-Man  
**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen  
**Genre:** General/Humor  
**Summary:** "Meet me tomorrow in the park at 12 o'clock, got it? Don't even think of not coming, Sprout." To Allen, that sounded pretty much like a duel challenge from his eternal rival in the fencing club he was in. He had no idea it was far from a fighting invitation.

**Word Count:** 4199

**Warning: **AU. Possible OOCness.

**Disclaimer:** If I own DGM, it'd go on a hiatus even more often than it is now. :P

**A/N: **Well, this is AU because I couldn't see these two go on a date in canon. Shoot me. Anyway, this is my longest entry, I guess. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you would enjoy this too! :D

* * *

**- NOT QUITE A BAD DAY -**

_Yullen Week, Day 3_

_Theme: Date_

_Setting: AU_

* * *

Allen wasn't quite enthusiastic to leave the house today. It was a Saturday, and he had originally planned to spend the day sleeping, but yesterday he was forced to have an appointment at twelve, and since he hadn't given the chance to refuse, he had no choice to come today, right?

Yesterday after school, his schoolmate, Yuu Kanda, who also happened to be in the same fencing club the Black Order Academy owned had come to him with an angry look that seemed to have been permanently pasted onto his Asian feature. He had stopped in front of a confused Allen, raised Mugen—his beloved sword—right in front of the British' face, and announced, "Meet me tomorrow at the park at 12 o'clock, got it? Don't even think of not coming, Sprout."

Right after saying his _order,_ the long haired teen had turned on his heels and walked away, leaving no argument for Allen to make.

The way Kanda had said it, Allen was sure it was a challenge to a duel, since he remembered they had yet to settle their score with each other. And besides, Allen couldn't think of any other reason why the Japanese would want to meet him outside the school or the training ground anyway.

Really, the idea of spending his Saturday on a sword duel wasn't quite appealing to Allen, but he didn't refuse—he could always call Kanda and say no—because he didn't need Kanda to look down at him for backing off from a challenge.

Checking on his outfit—a white long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of dark blue pants that only reached his mid-shin, made of a light material—Allen made sure he wore something comfortable to move in, and ones that wouldn't hindrance his movement when he fought.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and noticed it was already 11.30 a.m., so he thought he'd better be going now. He put on a white glove on his left hand (he always wore one), grabbed his wallet and cell phone, slipping them into his pants' pockets before walking out of his room. Allen closed the door to his room, bringing a small backpack containing spare clothes, a water bottle, an umbrella and a first aid kit, just in case. He then glanced towards his guardian's room and concluded that Cross might not come home for the weekend—most likely going out of town with a woman or two.

He shrugged and climbed down the stairs, checking all windows and door, before finally leaving after locking the front door.

* * *

The park wasn't that empty when Allen arrived there. There were families with small children, young couples of his age, people taking their dogs for a walk… the general atmosphere was so peaceful that he couldn't really believe he was meeting up with that homicidal Kanda in such a nice place.

He sure hoped Kanda didn't plan to fight with him here. But then again, he didn't bring any sword—because unlike a _certain someone_, he wasn't bloodthirsty enough to carry a sword everywhere—so Allen thought they would most likely go to the training ground in school.

He glanced around the park—that short-tempered Samurai-wannabe didn't specify the meeting point—looking for a glimpse of raven black hair in a ponytail. He scanned the area near the pond, under the trees, on the benches, and finally his grey eyes landed on the sour look of a certain Asian male standing with crossed arms and one leg over the other near the clock in the middle of the park.

The Japanese wore a blue, short-sleeved button-up shirt, but left it unbuttoned with a black T-shirt underneath, and a pair of dark jeans. Honestly, Allen had never seen Kanda outside of school before, and since their school had uniforms, the British teen had never seen Kanda in casual clothes. And well… he certainly did _not_ look bad—omit the fact that he was good looking to begin with.

_'But hey… where is Mugen?'_

"Kanda," Allen called as soon as he was in front of the Asian.

Kanda opened his eyes and looked up, took out his iPod and turned it off, before taking out the earphones he was wearing. "You're late," was his first greeting towards the younger boy.

"No, you're early."

"Che, only because unlike you, I'm not lazy."

"I'm not! I'm being punctual here. See?" Allen pointed out at the standing clock behind Kanda, which indicated that it was exactly twelve o'clock.

"Che, whatever," Kanda waved an uncaring hand, and spoke again, "Pick a restaurant."

"…pardon?" Allen blinked confused eyes at his companion.

"Pick a restaurant, Beansprout," Kanda repeated.

"What? We're going to fight in a restaurant?" Allen gaped.

Kanda gave him a weird look—which Allen thought it should be _him_ that was giving the Asian a weird look—and sighed. "Unless you want to pick a fight with me, then no, we're gonna have _lunch_, idiot."

The platinum blonde could only stare at Kanda for a few seconds. "We're going to have lunch," Allen repeated, wanting to make sure he didn't hear wrong.

"Yes."

"Uh… why?"

"Because I'm _hungry_, twerp!" Kanda gave him an exasperated look, and added, "Now pick. A. _Fucking_. Restaurant."

Allen scowled at Kanda, wondering if the Raven haired youth wanted to have a fight after they fill their stomach. "Well, in that case, why don't _you_ pick a restaurant, Kanda?"

"You're the bottomless pit here," Kanda calmly replied.

"Well, I practically eat anything, but you're the one who eats nothing but soba," the British retorted.

"Then pick a restaurant that has soba, duh…"

"...it leaves little choice for me, then." Allen shrugged as he gave in. "There's a nice Japanese restaurant not too far from here, but we'd have to take the bus."

"Fine. Let's go," Kanda said nonchalantly as he walked passed Allen to the bus stop direction.

Allen watched his companion's retreating back in slight confusion, before shrugging as he decided to just play along and see what the Japanese's real intention was. He just hoped that he had brought enough money with him to buy his lunch.

* * *

One thing that Allen felt he should keep in mind right now was: Always, _always_ bring extra money, just in case, he thought while miserably glancing back and forth between the menu and the content of his wallet. At times like this did he almost wish he had a _normal_ appetite.

"Look, Beansprout, quit looking so pathetic. Put your wallet away and just freaking _order_," Kanda demanded through gritted teeth from across the table.

"You know, you should've told me if we were to have lunch too. I could've brought some money with me," the younger teen whined.

"Shut up and just order, damn it! I'm paying, alright?"

At that, Allen blinked. "You what?" he asked in disbelief.

"I said I'm paying for your fucking food, Sprout. Now order."

Allen blinked, _again,_ absently noticing that Kanda sure had made him blinked a lot today. Did Kanda just say he was paying for his food—his _mountain_ of food?

"Kanda, do you even know how much I eat?" Allen asked warily.

The older boy raised an eyebrow as if Allen just asked something that was really obvious. "Yes, Sprout, I _do _know that you eat worse than a pig. Now, just _fucking_ order."

Allen didn't know if he should be insulted or grateful at the Japanese right now. "Uh… why would you want to pay for my food?"

"Damn it, you're such a bitch," Kanda muttered exasperatedly. "Look, I'm awfully loaded today and I don't know what to do with all these money my old man gave me, so I might as well feed a poor kid like you," Kanda waved his hand dismissively, wishing that he didn't sound like making excuses.

"Whoa, you're a spoiled brat," Allen commented sarcastically.

"Just shut up, be thankful, and order. Now!"

"Yes, yes…" Allen resigned, and waved a hand to a passing waitress before ordering his food—which was practically almost everything on the menu, and of course, Kanda only had his tempura soba.

Once the waitress left, there was kind of an awkward silence enveloping them. Kanda was never one to start a small talk, so Allen decided that it was his job to do so.

"So Kanda, tell me, did the sun rise in the west this morning?"

The Asian gave him a weird look, before asking back, "What kind of a retarded question is that?"

"Hmm… so that's not it. Then, I wonder if it's going to snow," Allen mumbled contemplatively, tapping a finger to his chin.

"Sprout, it's _summer._ What the fuck are you talking about anyway?" Kanda was starting to get annoyed.

"Well, I just find you being nice to me equals to a miracle, that's all," Allen plastered an innocent smile, though the older boy didn't miss the teasing tone in the British boy's voice.

Kanda glared at Allen. "If it's snowing in summer, then you should associate it with global warming, which is a fucking _disaster_ and not a miracle, idiot."

The platinum blonde let out a silvery laugh at the comment, before playfully stated, "So global warming has melted your icy heart. That's cool."

Red hues started to slowly spread over Kanda's cheek, most likely from annoyance—no, he was _not_ embarrassed. He was _not_!—and then he responded, "Can't you just say thank you and shut up?"

Allen nearly doubled over in laughter, but he kept himself in control. "Of course, where's my manner? Thank you, Kanda-sama," he gave a mock bow for effect, deliberately adding the suffix '-sama' that he had learned from Lavi some time ago.

Seeing the look on Kanda's face, Allen decided that it was best to stop teasing the Asian so he kept his mouth shut, or Kanda would change his mind and leave him to wash the dishes because he couldn't pay for his meal. He needed a change of topic, but he couldn't really think of anything else but the common subject high school students often talk about whether they like it or not: school.

Both of them had some classes together, and despite their habit of getting at each other neck in every given occasion, they would still sit near each other—unless they were in the same class with Lavi, then Allen would gladly offer the honor to sit beside the homicidal samurai-wannabe to said samurai's self-proclaimed best friend.

They might not be what people would call 'friends' in the real sense of the word, but in a way, probably they are.

Speaking of which, did Kanda really not intend to fight with him? So what was this meeting about? Were they jut… like… hanging out?

And then it hit Allen's mind; Kanda didn't really have friends—save for Lavi, who even proclaimed himself as Kanda's best friend—and since the dark haired youth always put up that intimidating front non-stop, he would never know if Kanda might actually be—Allen dared not to say 'lonely'—_in need of companion._

And, according to Lavi, at least, Kanda found Allen's presence was bearable somehow.

"What are you looking at, Beansprout?" Kanda glared at him, and that was when Allen realized he had been staring at his friend.

Letting out a chuckle, the younger replied, "Nothing, really. Just..." Allen contemplated whether to say it or not, and decided that it would be wiser to keep quiet, or the other might back off. "It's nothing," he finally said, smiling.

Kanda looked like he was about to bark at Allen, but was interrupted when their orders came. Lucky for Allen, the table they were currently occupying was big enough that all of his orders could fit in there somehow.

The rest of their lunch was spent eating and _actually_ talking without physical fight involved—which Allen was thankful for. Allen found that if he made enough effort, he could actually get a civil conversation with Kanda—as civil as they could get anyways, what with the insults exchange they kept having—and somehow, he found the atmosphere was quite… comfortable.

Allen started to think that maybe his Saturday wasn't going to be bad, after all.

* * *

On Allen's whim, they decided to watch a movie in a nearby theatre, though the process of deciding which movie to watch was rather lengthy due to the stubbornness of both of them to absolutely _not_ agreeing with the other's choice. Kanda wanted to watch some action—a manly movie, as he put it—while Allen wanted something more like a drama—more down-to-earth, he argued—and they spent a good thirty minutes arguing, and when they came to a conclusion to pick a movie that could accommodate both of their preference—a horror movie, definitely have some actions (or at least some blood) and a bit of drama (perhaps)—they had to wait for another ninety minutes at least, to be able to watch.

And they spent the time of wait with 'small talk' which, at some point, turned into another round of arguing with every topic they were talking about. Allen didn't understand why, but today, it seemed that their verbal fight felt less hostile and more… _bearable_ that he actually enjoyed bantering with his antagonistic companion. The British only blamed it on the amount of time he had spent in the Japanese's presence that he had gotten used to it—that he might actually _enjoyed_ being with Kanda.

Even during the movie they couldn't stop arguing ("I don't understand, why would the ghost kill everyone? Not all of them are to blame for her death…" Allen commented thoughtfully; "Duh, it's a _fucking_ ghost. She literally doesn't even have a brain to consider that," Kanda mocked.). They talked about a lot of thing then, including Kanda harassing the poor special effect on the movie, and how they really should have watched an action movie, with the main character beating the hell out of the bad guys instead of being scared to death by dead people, and Allen deadpanned that it was _exactly_ the point of a horror movie: dead people, ghost, and blood—and the only redeeming quality to Kanda, it seems.

Nonetheless, it was kind of enjoyable.

When they got out of the theatre, it was still about five o'clock, and they just stood there on the sidewalk, not quite know whether they should just go home already or hang out somewhere. Allen glanced at Kanda who didn't seem to want to move yet, and he finally decided to ask.

"So… are we going home now or…" he trailed of, deliberately not finishing his question because he couldn't really put it into words.

He saw the Asian heaved a sigh before muttering, "I don't want to go home yet."

Allen blinked at first, but then he replied, "Okay. I don't have anything to do anyway."

"Che. I didn't ask you to accompany me," Kanda scoffed.

Pouting, Allen mumbled, "Well, you practically forced me to come with you today and you paid for my food so I might as well keep you company, prick."

Kanda snorted. "So it's out of obligation?"

"Hmm," Allen look thoughtful for a moment, and then in a nonchalant manner, he answered, "no, not really."

"Che," was Kanda's only respond, before turning on is heel and started to walk away. But after a few steps, when he noticed Allen wasn't following, he turned and called, "What are you doing standing stupidly like that, Sprout? Come on."

"The name's Allen, BaKanda," Allen simply retorted while catching up with his companion, and let himself fall into step with Kanda.

"Che."

"You sure need to expand your vocabulary," the younger boy commented dryly. "By the way, where are we going?"

"I don't know—"

"Heeeeeeeeelp!! Catch that thief, please!! Oh no, my baaaag!!!"

At the scream, both of them turned to look behind them, where there was a middle-age woman shouting while pointing an accusing finger to a youngster with sunglass and a cap running so fast past them.

"Fucktard," Kanda muttered before dashing towards the thief.

Allen turned to the woman now weeping pitifully, and gently said, "Don't worry, ma'am, we'll get him," he smiled, before sprinting towards the thief too.

In no time he had caught up with Kanda chasing the criminal, but that thief was pretty fast. He suddenly took a turn in a corner and Kanda abruptly instructed, "Go after him, I'll block the way from the other side!"

Allen nodded and continued his pursue, absently noticing how fast Kanda had disappeared form his sight. Maybe aside of being a samurai-wannabe, he was also a ninja-wannabe?

But Allen was nothing but slow. He was so used to running away from Cross' debt collectors that he was now proud of his speed. Once he caught sight of the thief again, he hastened his pace and in no time, caught up with him.

"Give it back, you thief!" Allen yelled as he reached out his left hand to grab the bag from the criminal, who seemed surprised that Allen was there so fast.

"Bloody hell, no! get away from me, brat!" he quickly pulled out a pocketknife and slashed Allen's gloved hand with it in his attempt to keep the bag from being snatched.

"Ouch," Allen winced in pain as the knife made contact with his left hand, but paid it no heed as he was now trying to trip the thief.

And he did.

Just in time as Kanda came out of nowhere, landing his kick on the criminal's head, and by the sound of it, Allen could only flinched imagining how hard Kanda's kick must have been.

"Stupid thief," Kanda muttered, giving the unconscious man his middle finger.

Allen then approached the thief and took the woman's bag, meaning to dust it off but refrained from doing so, seeing red on his gloved left hand. He didn't want to dirty the handbag.

"Shit, you're bleeding?" Kanda cursed while he glared at the red spot on Allen's supposedly white glove.

"Uh… a little, but it's nothing, really," the younger waved it off.

Before Kanda could protest, Allen turned on his heel and walked out of the alley they were in, where the woman and a police officer had just arrived.

"Here's your bag, ma'am," Allen smiled gently while giving the woman her handbag, then he turned to the officer and added, "The thief is unconscious over there, he pointed into the alley, all the while hiding his left hand behind his back

Smiling at the expression of gratitude and praises he was showered with, Allen then yelped when he felt he was roughly pulled by the wrist and dragged away from the scene.

"Kanda?" Allen carefully called out when Kanda didn't stop dragging him until they found a park nearby and Kanda sat him down on a bench.

"Show me your hand," he demanded quietly.

Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Allen pulled his left hand behind his back once more, and responded, "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it, it's just a scratch."

A vein popped on Kanda's forehead, and the Asian yanked Allen's left hand by the wrist from behind his back, and was about to ungloved it when he heard the younger shout, "NO!"

Kanda threw Allen a confused look, but he refused to loosen his grip on Allen's wrist. "If it's nothing then surely you can show me, Bean. Don't be such a baby!"

Allen tried to yank his hand back, but to no avail, and it was the next second that Kanda managed to peel off his glove, revealing his red, raw, deformed hand into view.

Kanda didn't gape, he didn't even gasp, but Allen could see his midnight blue eyes widened at the sight. The platinum blonde looked down on his lap and was about to pull his hand back again, but the Japanese then pull his sleeve up until his elbow.

Allen felt really exposed. But then Kanda had seen it anyway, there was no use to hide it again.

"How much of it…" Kanda didn't finish his sentence.

"Up to my left shoulder."

"How?"

"… I was born like this."

There was silence for a moment, and when he thought Kanda would look disgusted, the Asian actually was looking closely on the wound on his palm.

"Is it bad that you're hurt here?" he finally asked.

Allen blinked up at the long haired teen. "You're not… disgusted with it?"

Kanda narrowed his eyes at Allen, as if the British had just said something that belittled him. "Bean, I'm a _man, _damn it, I can stand gory stuff," he scoffed, and Allen couldn't help smiling at the comment. Then, the Asian added, "And you're not answering my question. Do I need to take you to the hospital or something?"

"No, no, it's okay. Actually, this left hand of mine is somehow thicker, so it's okay to have some little scratch on this arm," the younger boy explain.

"You still need to treat that, though," Kanda contemplated.

"Yeah, I know. Hold on." The silver-eyed boy than rummaged through his backpack and retrieved the first aid kit he had brought with him, putting the box next to him on the bench.

"You bring that kind of stuff everywhere?" Kanda raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but I thought you were asking me for a duel today so I brought this with me," Allen calmly explained as he took out the antiseptic and a roll of bandage.

The raven-haired male snorted at his companion's words. "A duel? Of course," he inaudibly muttered, and when Allen looked up in question on him, Kanda sat down on the bench and took the antiseptic from the younger boy's hand. "I'll do it," he offered.

Allen let the older boy take care of his deformed hand without so much of a cringe, as if he was tending a wound on a _normal_ hand. For that, Allen was grateful, and his respect for Kanda had grown to a different level.

"So the glove wasn't just for show, after all," Allen heard Kanda muttered while still tending on his wound.

"For show?"

"You know, like the stupid rabbit's eye patch."

"Oh," the platinum blonde chuckled remembering his eccentric, redhead friend. "People with weird fashion sense are normal these days, so I guess I'm lucky I can hide my hand easily."

"You're lucky you live in England," Kanda said while bandaging the wounded hand. "If you lived in Japan, you wouldn't survive wearing long-sleeved shirts during summer, especially if you lived in a big city."

"Did you live in Japan before?" Allen curiously inquired.

"Only until I was seven. Then my parents died and somehow I ended up adopted by some weirdo and was taken to America before coming here two years ago," Kanda replied nonchalantly.

"Oh…" the British looked contemplative for a while, before he began talking again, "I'm now living with my second adoptive father. Well, technically, Cross is my adoptive father, but he really isn't a parent material, what with his drinking and womanizing habit," he chuckled.

Kanda said nothing to that, only humming his acknowledgment, but it was enough for Allen. He never thought he would exchange life stories with Yuu Kanda, of all people, and now that they did, plus the fact that Kanda knew of his arm without being disgusted… It made Allen feel like some strange bond might be growing between them.

"Done," Kanda suddenly announced, and he began to put the antiseptic and roll of bandage back into the box.

Allen then put the first aid kit back into his backpack while saying, "Thanks, Kanda."

"Che."

Allen took out a spare glove he had brought with him together with the spare clothes, and put the material on his bandaged hand, and then he shifted slightly to find a comfortable position, before leaning against the backrest and looked up to the pinkish sky.

For a moment, both of them were silent, sitting on the bench and gazing at the vast sky, completely at ease in the peaceful atmosphere of a beautiful afternoon.

"You know, it kind of feels like we're on a date," Allen suddenly started, "We had lunch together, watched a movie, and now we look like one of them," he gestured at couples that were occupying most of the benches in the park.

"A date," Kanda scoffed, "Right."

"I know! Next time we go on a 'date', I'll pay for your meal," he grinned at the Asian.

"Hell no, I'm not a girl!"

"Neither am I," Allen pouted.

Kanda smirked at him. "Obviously I'm manlier than you, Beansprout."

"Says the one with long, silky hair."

"At least my voice isn't high-pitched like yours. Have you even reached puberty?"

"Shut up, prick."

They continued to banter under the sun that was starting to go down, bathing in warmth that had nothing to do with summer. And even though none of them said it, both of them thought that going on another 'date' like this might not be a bad idea, after all.

**- NeverEnding -**

* * *

**A/N:** Turned out differently than what I meant to write, but I let it be coz usually the things that wrote itself are better… so I hope this worked fine for you? But I think I failed at the ending line…

And screw my first A/N, I couldn't see them go on a real date _at all_ that they aren't even a couple here XD;; (Though maybe they will be soon :P)

Reviews are a significant nutrient for my brain, so please leave me some! :D


	4. Not Quite an Easy Game

**Title:** Not Quite an Easy Game

**Author:** a1y-puff

**Fandom: **D. Gray-Man

**Pairing:** hinted Kanda/Allen

**Genre:** General/friendship… I guess

**Summary:** Allen didn't know how it had come to this, but he found himself disintegrating, and Kanda had to win him back, along with the innocence they were supposed to retrieve, by a game of igo.

**Word Count:** 3665

**Warning:** Umm… language, courtesy of Kanda? And author's nonexistent knowledge of Go/Igo (whichever is the right name)

**Disclaimer:** If I own DGM, it'd go on a hiatus even more often than it is now. :P

**A/N:** I was really confused of what to write for this theme. I thought card games or Truth or Dare would be common so I wanted something different. And when **Tacuma** suggested 'chess', this plot was suddenly building in my head, though somehow 'chess' turned into 'igo' XD;;

Thanks for **elysis** for giving me the name 'Liu Zheng'.

Anyway, enjoy~

**

* * *

**

**- NOT QUITE AN EASY GAME -**

_Yullen Week, Day 4_

_Theme: Games_

_Setting: Canon_

* * *

_Clack, clack, clack_; the sounds of the black and white stones being placed on the wooden board was all that Allen could hear for quite a while now. He saw his seemingly permanent mission partner, Yuu Kanda, leaning forward on his seat; his exorcist coat had long been removed from his body and his shirt's long sleeves were rolled to his elbows. Kanda then glared at the board in full force as once again, his black stones were eaten by his opponent.

He heard a faint string of foreign words escaped from the Asian's lips, and although he didn't speak Japanese, Allen somehow knew they were curses. The British boy watched as Kanda absently tapped a finger on his chin, his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. It was a rare sight, to see Kanda actually _thinking,_ and not just slashing Mugen at just anything and everything that was in his way.

For once, Kanda was fighting without his beloved sword.

Another clacking sound was heard as Kanda finally placed a black stone on the board, and waited in anticipation for his opponent to make a move. When his opponent smirked, Kanda immediately looked back to the board, searching for a blind spot that he might have missed, and then his eyes widened and ungraciously swore, "Fuck!"

The opponent placed a white stone a bit to the middle of the wooden board, and a few of Kanda's black stones were lost once more.

The long haired teen palmed his face before wiping the sweat on his forehead, messing up his bangs in the process.

"Uh, Kanda? You okay there?" Allen warily called, silently cursing his nonexistent knowledge of igo that he couldn't tell what was happening on the wooden board—all he could see was a bunch of round, black and white stones forming some random pattern on it—but judging from Kanda's look, it seemed like the older teen was at a disadvantage.

When Kanda wasn't answering, Lenalee spoke up, "Please, Kanda, you can't lose, or Allen will…"

"I know, I know! Be quite already. I won't let him disappear," Kanda snapped at the Chinese girl without even looking up from the igo board.

Something about Kanda's words sent a strange tingling inside Allen's chest.

The cursed exorcist then glanced down to himself, inwardly chastising his carelessness for getting himself in this mess. Now his legs had disintegrated up to his mid-thighs, and Allen wondered how long it would be until he would completely disappear.

His only hope was for Kanda to win the game, which had been going on like forever, before he could cease to exist.

No, the mission wasn't supposed to go like this.

* * *

"To China?" asked the white-haired boy while skimming through the mission's details.

"Yes. Rumor has it that after the return of a famous collector from travelling a few weeks back, strange creatures have been seen lurking around his house, and people started disappearing. They said it's a curse from the Collector's latest collection, a bracelet that he always wears on his left hand. It's possible that it's an innocence, and—"

"—the missing people were akuma in disguise, trying to steal the innocence," Lenalee muttered contemplatively, tucking her chin-length hair behind her ear "And the innocence is the cause of their disappearance."

"Oooh, that's my sweet sister!!! You're soooo smart Lenalee, I'm so proud of you!!" Komui exclaimed animatedly, ready to jump and hug his sister, but Lenalee's glare stopped him.

"When are we leaving?" Kanda asked impatiently as he glared at the folder on his hand.

Clearing his throat, Komui then answered, "Go have lunch first, and then Allen will lead you there through the ark."

- - -

"I see… so you're here to take this precious collection of mine," the old, overweighed man gestured to some kind of a bracelet made of stone on his left hand. "People seemed to be really interested in this lately, but they all disappeared just from trying to snatch this from me."

"Mr. Liu Zheng, please let us have it. It's made of a substance called 'innocence' which has a special power. It's a necessary weapon to the Black Order. Those people who were trying to steal it from you were akuma disguised as humans, and we can't let them have it."

The Chinese man looked thoughtful for a moment, before finally spoke again, "Fine, since you asked nicely, I will give it to you on one condition."

"What is it?" Lenalee asked.

Suddenly, the bracelet shone and a beam of light was directed to Allen. The British raised his arms to shield his eyes, and when the light subsided, he couldn't feel his legs.

"Walker!" he heard Link shouted his name in alarm, and Allen saw him pointing at his legs.

The white haired exorcist looked down on his legs, only to find them disintegrating. "Dear Lord!!" Allen yelped in surprise, seeing how his legs started disappearing from the tip of his feet and up to his mid-shins.

"Damn it, you can activate it?" Kanda immediately pointed his sword to Liu, but the old man only smiled at him. "Return him to normal and you are coming with us to the Black Order."

"Oh dear, are you going to make me an exorcist? I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't. You can still have the innocence, but—"

"Mr. Liu, please stop what you're doing to him," Lenalee pleaded.

"This is a precious item you want me to give up, exorcists, so it wouldn't be fun for you to just easily have it now, would it?" Liu smirked, before waving his left hand—the one with the bracelet—to Allen's direction and the British seemed to stop disintegrating, though his legs from knees and below didn't come back either.

Allen glared at Mr. Liu from his seat—absently wondering if he would fall to the ground when his legs disintegrated had he been standing—and asked, "What do you want from us?"

The Chinese man walked over to a cabinet and retrieved a set of something looked like a wooden board, and two small jars on top of it, before putting it down on the table in front of the exorcists. "Play with me," he said, "You have to win this bracelet _and_ your friend over there," Liu glanced at Allen. "If you lose, however, this pretty boy will disappear."

"What's that?" Allen inquired as he took a good look on the wooden board. It seemed to be made of a really fine wood, judging by the color and the texture.

"It's an igo board," Kanda muttered under his breath. "It's some kind of Japanese chess."

"Correct. I've stayed in Japan for five years when I was younger, and there I learned to play igo and immediately fall in love with it. I've played with the best players that I've known, and I never lost for the past three years. That's why, if any of you can beat me in this, I will return your friend to normal, and you can have this innocence," Liu smirked, and added, "If you lose, however, even if you could try taking this bracelet by force, the moment I see you attempt to do it, I will make him disappear."

Silence hung around them once more; each drowned in their own thoughts. Allen sat there, a blank expression on his face. He couldn't believe something like this could happen to him. Dying was one thing, but disappearing?

It felt… unreal…

"I'll do it. I'll play you, old fart," Kanda suddenly said as he stood up and dragged a wooden chair nearby to one side of the table where the igo set was placed.

"Kanda? You'll do it?" Allen asked, half in disbelief.

"Shut up. It's not like any of you even know how to play," he sharply responded.

Liu chuckled before settling himself on a chair across of Kanda. Then, he turned to Allen on the sofa to his right, and said, "This could take hours, so just relax and cheer on your friend here, boy. Your life is practically depended on him right now."

Allen didn't like the idea at all.

* * *

Right. That was how he ended up in this mess. Allen sighed to himself. He'd think after all the battle he had been during his life as an exorcist, he'd have better reflexes, but nooo, he couldn't even dodge the surprise attack from an old man. And he wasn't even an akuma…

And now his life depended on the homicidal Samurai that had claimed to hate his guts hundreds of times now.

Oh, the irony of life.

_Clack_, Kanda put on another black stone with his middle and forefinger, before taking away a few of Liu's white stones from the board. He looked momentarily relieved, though his frown was still deep.

"You're pretty good, boy. Do you play frequently?" Liu started a conversation which didn't seem to be very welcomed by the Japanese, while still gazing intently at their battlefield on the table.

"I used to," Kanda absently answered, still looked like he was in a really deep thought; a look that Allen thought he would never see on Kanda.

Liu was faster at deciding in his move, as once again he placed his white stone on the board, only this time it wasn't an offensive move, since Kanda's facial expression didn't darken much. To tell the truth, Allen really wanted to know their current scores—or at least if Kanda was winning or not, and if he was losing, was it still possible for the Japanese to turn the table?

Allen found himself intently watching the long haired exorcist, studying every little change of Kanda's facial expression, because it was the only way he could find out his position on the game since watching the black and white stones on the wooden board didn't help him getting the gist of the situation.

He then glanced down, finding that his thighs had completely disappeared. Earlier, Liu hadn't stop his disintegrating; he had only slowed down the process to give them time for a game. But still, this game really had taken _hours._ He never knew some kind of a chess game could take this long.

He knew it was because Kanda always took his time thinking on his moves, and he didn't want to blame the Japanese teen; after all, he was doing this for _him._ He couldn't afford to make the wrong move and risk Allen's life. If there was one thing Allen found endearing in the temperamental samurai, it was that he actually _did_ care for his comrades, no matter how Kanda wanted to deny it, even to himself.

But still…

_Clack. _Another black stone was placed on the board, and Kanda leaned slightly backwards, trying to relax his stiff muscle from the tension of the game, and the burden he was carrying with it.

"Expanding your territory, huh?" Liu commented, absently tapping his fingers on the table. Then, his lips twitched upwards, and he took a white stone from the container in between his middle and forefinger, and put it down the board, saying, "Smart move, boy, but it's not something I can't handle."

"Shit!"

Kanda glared accusingly at the board, leaned black slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose, before looking fiercely once more to the wooden board.

"Kanda, please win," Lenalee muttered under her breath, her Asian feature filled with worry.

Allen was watching Kanda again, and noticed how the Japanese must have been so focused on the game that he wasn't bothered even if the British had been watching him all along. He then glanced down again and noticed his lower hip was starting to disintegrate as well.

"Mr. Liu," Allen suddenly called; his voice flat and detached that it called everyone's attention on him—save for Kanda who was still glaring at the board.

"What is it, boy?"

Allen looked contemplative for a few seconds, before glanced down at his disintegrating body, and asked, "When I disappear, what would happen? Will I die, or will I simply cease to exist? Where… where would my soul go—"

"Damn it, Beansprout, shut the fuck up!" Kanda suddenly snapped, diverting his death glare from the board to Allen's form, and he was momentarily stunned by Allen's form—or what was left of it.

Then, he took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure, before glaring at the British boy once more.

"You don't need to ask those stupid questions, idiot. I won't lose."

It wasn't a promise, because Yuu Kanda didn't do promises. It was him stating a fact. That he would win, no matter what. The Japanese then turned his attention back to the game, before picking up a black stone and placing it down the board.

"Oh dear," Liu muttered, a smile was formed on his lips. "That was a good move, boy," he commented, before placing his own white stone down the wooden surface.

"You shouldn't lose hope, Allen." Lenalee took his right hand on both of her hands, and continued, "Kanda is fighting for _you_. If you gave up, what is he fighting for?"

The younger teen looked at her for a moment, finding concern and hope, and affection lingering in her beautiful eyes. It was comfortable; the kind of sisterly love Lenalee had always served for him. Smiling, he gripped the Chinese girl's hand gently, and uttered, "You're right... I'm sorry."

The dark haired girl smiled up at him, before releasing his hand and turned her attention back to the Japanese exorcist. "Kanda is trying his best," she smiled gently.

Allen directed his eyes once again to Kanda and found a determined look on his handsome feature. Even from a distance Allen could see his unwavering midnight blue eyes, filled with the resolve to win, the refusal to lose a battle he was fighting in.

Kanda refused to give up, so why would he? He wasn't even the one playing.

"Kanda," Allen called out again, his voice was calm and a small smile was playing on his lips.

Kanda spared him a side-glance and curtly asked, "What?"

Plastering a smile, the youngest exorcist said, "If you lose, I'll kick your arse."

At that, the Samurai let out a smirk, and said, "Not happening, Beansprout. I'll be the one doing the kicking once I win back your sorry ass."

"Then go ahead and win, prick," Allen responded, not even trying to hide the slightly pleading tone in his voice.

Kanda didn't reply anymore, but he took a deep breath and pulled his concentration back onto the game.

He could do this.

* * *

Allen didn't know how much time had passed, all he could hear was the continuous clacking sounds as the game went on and on. Something that he had noticed was that lately, Liu seemed to be getting slower in making his moves; taking more time to think through his moves.

The white haired teen only had his waist and up of his body left, but when he glanced at the board, the wooden surface was nearly full with the black and white stones. Was it a sign that the game was going to end soon?

"Please win, Kanda, please win," Lenalee had been muttering the words again and again like a mantra, while to his left, Allen found Link was still busy taking notes of their current situation, though the British boy had no idea what was he writing about that it seemed to be endless.

_Clack._ Kanda finally placed down a black stone after what seemed like forever, a stern expression was still plastered on his face.

Time kept ticking, and ticking, and ticking… Kanda looked so tense as he was waiting for the old man to make his move that it made Allen nervous too.

"Kanda, please win," he finally muttered under his breath, but it seemed, due to the tense silence in the room, his voice had reached the older boy, because he then spared Allen a glance—and was it him seeing too far or was Kanda trying to reassure him?

"Well," Liu broke the silence, and all eyes immediately turned to the old, Chinese man. He smiled softly at Kanda, and said, "I forfeit."

"Thank God!" Lenalee immediately exclaimed and was about to hug Allen, but stopped as the British boy threw her a sheepish grin from not having much left of his body for Lenalee to hug.

"Uh, Mr. Liu, do you mind to… err… _restore_ me?" Allen asked politely.

"As promised, boy," Liu Zheng then waved his left hand to Allen's direction, and once again a beam of light was aimed to the British male. After the light subsided, bit by bit Allen's body was reintegrating, starting from his torso and down in a much faster speed than it was disintegrating.

Kanda watched; Allen knew Kanda was watching him as his body began to reappeared, kept watching until the last bit of Allen was restored, and as Lenalee hugged his restored body, the Japanese released a breath before turning to Liu.

"The innocence," Kanda reached out a hand to the Chinese man.

Smiling, Liu then took off the bracelet and put it down the table, next to the igo board. Kanda was about to retrieve it when Allen suddenly shouted, "Mr. Liu, what happened to you?"

There he was, Liu Zheng, smiling as his body began to disintegrate like Allen's earlier, starting from his feet and upwards. The other occupants of the room could only stare at him, but Liu kept smiling calmly.

"I'm already dead, boy," he began, "A few weeks back actually, but my soul couldn't go to the Heaven yet. There was something I wanted to do before I died, and somehow, that bracelet gave me a physical form."

Lenalee gasped softly, covering her mouth with a hand. "Was the thing you wanted to do…"

"Well yes, I wanted to play igo for one last time. I haven't played for three years, and this," he gestured to the board, "was a special igo set I got from a best friend I met in Japan. It brought me luck, as I've always won whenever I played using this set, but for one last time… I wanted to be defeated."

Allen stared at the disintegrating man, understanding dawned on his eyes. "So the reason you attacked me was…"

Liu let out a soft chuckle. "It was my idea of fun, boy. I thought if I wanted my opponent to give me his all, I need to fire things up a bit. I wasn't going to really make you disappear."

"Che. You're so annoying," Kanda finally said something, glaring up at the man from where he was seated.

Again, the man only let out a small laugh. "Kanda, was it? You have the talent but you lack of practice. If you played more frequently, I'm sure you'd be a great igo player."

"I'm an exorcist. That's it," Kanda curtly responded; his eyes fixed to the wooden board on the table.

"That's true," Liu's smile turned wistful. "But still, it was a good game, Kanda. So thank you."

Kanda glanced up at the man who was left only to his chest, and a rather sulky tone, he replied, "Same here."

Liu Zheng smiled at him, and Kanda watched; he was watching the old man disintegrate until he was completely disappeared, leaving a few sparkles of light.

"He's gone…" Lenalee whispered after what seemed like forever.

Kanda fixed his eyes on the board once more, studying the result of their game, of his victory, with unreadable eyes. Then, he leaned back on his seat, resting his head against the backrest and stared up at the ceiling before closing his eyes and started pinching the bridge of his nose, looking all tired.

"You might have overused your brain, Kanda," Allen stated softly as he walked the short distance to Kanda, and started massaging the Japanese's temple from behind the chair.

Kanda grunted—Allen couldn't really tell if it was out of annoyance or not—and glared up at the younger boy. "What are you doing, Bean?"

"Helping you rid of your headache, obviously—hey, don't pinch your nose bridge, it'll turn red!" Allen proceeded with his ministration when Kanda showed no sign of resistance and started to close his eyes again—he concluded the Samurai was too tired to even snap at him.

"I'm going to kick your ass now that it's back where it belongs, Sprout."

"Heh, I doubt that. You look pretty much beat, Bakanda," Allen retorted, moving his hands to the Kanda's shoulders, and the raven haired male leaned forward to give he British more access. "Gee, you're so stiff. Was the game really too much for you?" Allen mocked as his fingers worked to loosen the tense muscles.

"And whose fault do you think was that? Fuck you,"

"You're welcome, Prick. And should I say 'thank you' to you too?"

"Hell no, I did it to get the innocence."

"Of course."

Suddenly, a soft giggle was heard, then Lenalee spoke up, "Honestly, couldn't you two just say 'thank you for saving me' and 'you're very welcome, it's my pleasure' like normal people would?"

"We're not saying anything like that!!" Both boys said in unison, and it just served to make Lenalee's giggle intensified.

Of course they would never say anything like that to each other. That was just lame. And sappy. And embarrassing. And taking everything into account, it wasn't necessary. Throwing insults and biting sarcasm had been their ways of communicating, and neither of them thought it would ever change. But still, it didn't matter.

Because one way or another, they knew; Kanda knew Allen was saying thank you through his actions, and Allen knew Kanda really did play for him.

That was just the way they were, and neither of them minded.

**-NeverEnding-

* * *

**

**  
A/N:** Kanda played igo. Nyahaha, who knows, he might reincarnate to Akira Toya XD *bricked*. But come to think of it, Akira and Hikaru from "Hikaru no Go" DO look kind of like Kanda and Allen... no?

And uh... yes, I know next to _nothing_ about igo, but I chose it anyway coz I want Kanda to play, so... *hides*

There's something I'm not quite sure of, but I couldn't really pinpoint, so I would really like to know what you think of this one, so please do drop me a review, ne? It'll make me happy, thank you ^____^


	5. Not Quite a Small Talk

**Title:** Not Quite a Small Talk  
**Author:** a1y-puff  
**Fandom:** D. Gray-Man  
**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen  
**Genre:** General/friendship… maybe? Or could this be hurt/comfort? _  
**Summary: **One fine night found Kanda and Allen having a small talk about their life as an exorcist… though rather unwillingly, in Kanda's part.  
**Word Count:** 2092  
**Warning:** Mmh… language courtesy of Kanda? Possible OOC-ness but I hope not.  
**Disclaimer:** Me no ownie, not at all. If me owns, DGM would be ghei~ *bricked*

**A/N:** Please excuse my angst/fluff-ridden brain for this. I had thought to write some sort of horror fic with this theme (the doll being possessed by a ghost or something) but the lack of time didn't allow me to do so, and instead I wrote this. It's probably the shortest, so far, but it's one of my fave of my own Yullen, so I hope you'd enjoy this too! :D

* * *

**- NOT QUITE A SMALL TALK -**  
_Yullen Week, Day 5  
Theme: Doll  
Setting: Canon_

* * *

The night was beautiful with stars sparkling on the dark velvet sky, accompanied by a silver crescent moon, but none of these caught Kanda's interest. He was too busy training in the woods—slashing Mugen through the trees and fallen leaves, his eyes blindfolded—to notice such beauty of nature. His mind was occupied with things he'd rather not think about, so he trained, and trained, and trained…

"It's an order from the higher-ups, Kanda. Even though a similar order has been issued to all the exorcists before, they think you're the most… 'suitable' person to carry this mission. It has no time limit, just when the time comes, you… you'd have to—" Komui trailed off, looking down on his desk as he was unable to continue what he was meaning to say.

"Enough, I understand. If it's too much, you don't have to say it, Komui." Kanda cut him off, knowing enough from the grim expression Komui wore.

The Chinese man bowed his head slightly, and uttered, "I'm sorry…"

Another sharp move from Mugen, and a tree branch was cut in less than a second, its leaves slowly falling to the ground.

'Damn it all,' Kanda cursed inwardly.

A sound of dried leaves being stepped on alarmed Kanda, and he immediately pulled off his blindfold as he turned his head to the direction of the sound. "Who's there?"

"It's me."

At the annoyingly familiar voice, Kanda's shoulders relaxed. "Che. It's just you," he remarked, "What are you doing out here at this time of night, Beansprout?"

'Just when I don't want to see you the most, of all times,' he added in his mind.

"The name's Allen, BaKanda. Get it through your thick head already," Allen whined, stepping closer to the Japanese, and continued, "And I could ask you the same thing."

"Che. I couldn't sleep," Kanda decided to answer though he himself didn't know why he bothered to.

The British exorcist smiled at him. "Me too."

"Where's your stalker?" Kanda asked, referring to the blonde inspector who was supposed to follow the cursed exorcist everywhere.

Allen shrugged. "Sometimes I feel suffocated with Link being around all the time, so I decided to slip out as quietly as humanely possible. If he awoke and realized I wasn't there, he would probably start looking for me inside the building. That's why I'm out here," the younger teen explained nonchalantly.

Kanda snorted. "Che. So what, you're playing fugitive now?"

Allen let out a chuckle. "You could say that," he lightly replied, before offering, "Wanna spare with me? Bare-handed?"

Kanda pondered for a bit, then thinking since the bean sprout—for one reason and another—had been annoyingly nagging at his mind, he might as well beat the brat up. So he sheathed Mugen and put it under a nearby tree, before positioning himself to a fighting pose, and smirked, "Bring it on, Sprout."

Allen smirked back, took a stance, and charged forward.

* * *

"Damn you and your innocence arm," Kanda muttered as he sat down on the grass, bearing a few bruises on his face, and somewhere along the brawl, his hair had come undone. "It's as hard as metal," he continued.

"And I'd say 'damn you and your fast-healing ability', Kanda," Allen chuckled, looking beaten up no better than the Asian youth. He then saw Kanda's hair tie lying around not far behind him, and walked a short distance before picking it up, and walked to where Kanda was sitting in an opening.

Kanda looked down on his body, and true enough his bruises had started healing on their own. He just che'd at it, but paid it no heed. These minor injuries wouldn't cause his tattoo to get bigger or another petal to wilt. Not that he usually cared for his injuries anyway.

"Here, I found your hair tie. Want me to tie it up for you?" Allen offered good-naturedly.

Kanda looked up behind him to see the younger boy stood there, his hair tie in hand. The raven haired male took a moment to ponder, before shrugging and said, "Do what you want."

"Whoa, you're actually going to let me do it?" the British boy asked in half disbelief.

Kanda glared up at him. "Shut up, idiot! If you don't want to, then give it to me!" he spat while trying to get his hair tie back, but Allen pulled it behind his back reflexively.

"I didn't say that," the white haired boy chuckled. "Turn your head."

Kanda complied with a 'che'.

The lithe boy then started running his hand though the dark tresses, smoothing the tangled locks bit by bit, then he absently commented, "You know, your hair reminds me of a Japanese doll Master once owned."

Kanda twitched at the remark. "Don't compare me with a freaking doll, Sprout! And stop playing with my hair!" he snapped, but then he fell silence for a moment, before asking in a rather disgusted tone, "General Cross had a doll?"

"It was a gift from one of his girlfriends, I guess. The doll was of a girl with long black hair and a red kimono. It looked rather scary at night, but I kind of liked its hair. And yours reminds me of it," the smaller teen explained while began tying up Kanda's hair into a neat ponytail.

"Che. A doll, huh," Kanda muttered, looking down at the grass. "I might as well be one."

"Hmm? Why?" the English teen asked, and Kanda cursed his mouth for even slipping the words out and he opted not to continue. Then, he felt the bean sprout sat down behind him, his back pressed lightly on Kanda's.

The Samurai twitched, but decided that he was too tired to move away, so he stayed still.

"If anyone were to be a doll, I think it would be me," Allen suddenly started, "It's like my life is controlled by everyone around me and I'm just their puppet. It's kind of annoying, if you look at it like that."

For some reason, Allen's statement reminded Kanda of himself. Of his purpose in this world. Of why he was an exorcist.

"Are you really?" Kanda finally inquired, not really knowing why he was even talking to the boy.

"Maybe I am, but I do have a heart. I'll be a doll that has its own will," he replied, and then in a more wistful tone, he added, "Like Lala."

The fell into silence again, and Kanda's mind involuntarily drifted to their first mission together in Mattel, where they had met the living doll called Lala.

"But in the end, she's dead. And we took her 'heart'," the older teen muttered almost inaudibly.

Kanda heard the white haired boy let out a sigh, before replying, "I know…"

Another silence followed, less comfortable and more strained. Kanda felt it wasn't the kind of silence that he'd appreciate, so he turned his head, meaning to say something—probably to pick a fight with the younger exorcist—but he accidentally brushed his ponytail against the British's neck, making him complained, "Hey! That tickles."

"Che. Then get away from me, idiot."

"Don't want to. I'm too tired to move."

"Stupid."

"What about yourself?," Allen suddenly asked, "What makes you a doll—well, 'puppet' might be the right word."

"None of your business, nosy brat," the Japanese scoffed.

"Is it because you were… created to be an exorcist?"

At that, Kanda turned his head abruptly, and growled, "How much do you know?"

The Asian could feel the smaller boy shrugged on his back, and then he answered. "Not much, really. Just that I think why you seem so heartless is because you've been living for that one purpose—being an exorcist and care for nothing else, shutting your heart off from everything else that aren't your missions, innocence, akuma and the earl?"

"Don't talk as if you know me, brat!" he snapped, suddenly feeling exposed from the younger boy's words for some reason he didn't want to admit. "You know nothing, damn it… nothing."

"You're right. I'm sorry," The British youth muttered, and then Kanda felt a hand over the back of his left hand and squeezed it, before Allen spoke again, in a softer tone of voice, "I'm sorry."

And Kanda hated it. He hated the way Allen said sorry. It wasn't apologetic at all; it was knowing, understanding, accepting. Kanda hated the strange tingling feelings in his chest upon hearing Allen's words. It was foreign, suffocating… yet in a way, it felt warm.

It poked on his heart, and Kanda would rather have his heart untouched.

"I'm gonna kill you," Kanda muttered grudgingly, not wanting to admit the bad effect the bean sprout had on his stoic, heartless facade.

"You've said it hundreds of time already, dumbass," retorted the younger exorcist, and Kanda just knew from his voice that Allen was smirking when he said it.

The older teen was about to make a comeback when suddenly he remembered something. He raised his right hand in front of his face and eyed it, remembering what Komui had told him earlier. Then, he finally broke the silence in a very low tone of voice, saying, "I might really gonna have to kill you."

Allen didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then Kanda felt weight on his back, and he turned his head slightly to see the younger of the two leaning against him, eyes closed.

"I know," he said, "I'm sorry…"

"Why the fuck are you apologizing, you imbecile? You're the one who'd get killed!" the Japanese snapped, raising his voice more than he would have liked. Why he was so angry, he didn't know. But the sprout's acceptance of his fucking messed up fate was getting on his nerves in a way he couldn't decipher.

"Because I know you'd feel bad," the tenor voice broke his train of thought, and Kanda felt the body on his back moved slightly, and when Allen spoke again, his voice was a little bit too close to his ear. "But let me promise you this. I will do my best not to give up myself to the fourteenth, and I will do anything in my power to stop him from taking over me, so then maybe, you wouldn't have to kill me in the end."

The way Allen recited his words was calming in a way, as if he was trying to reassure him, but there were also fear and doubts injected in his melodious voice, and Kanda knew that more than him, Allen was trying to reassure himself.

"Che," the Japanese turned his head back to glare at the grass, and responded, "You'd better be, Sprout. But if you fail, I would really kill you, dumbass."

"I know," Allen replied, and somehow Kanda could see the brat was smiling as he said it. The smaller body behind him shifted again and the Asian felt a head was rested against his upper back. "I'm kind of sleepy…"

"What? Hey, don't sleep on my back, idiot!" Kanda protested, but for some reason, he didn't want to move from his position.

"Oh come on, just for a few minutes, okay?" he heard Allen said, followed by a yawn, and then Kanda felt the British boy was making himself comfortable leaning against his back, before his breathing slowly got deeper and even.

Kanda cursed both the holy and unholy under his breath, but he made no move to shove the boy away, because he was feeling rather tired himself. He decided if the sprout could use him as a pillow, then he could do just the same. So he leaned backwards, resting his head against Allen's and stared up at the dark night sky.

For the first time that night, Kanda noticed the twinkling stars and the crescent silver moon adorning the velvet blue sky.

Maybe it was the peaceful atmosphere, and maybe it was the heat radiating from the body pressed against his back, but Kanda let himself relaxed and decided not to think about annoying things that were going on all around him. Those things could wait until morning came, when duties called to him and made him the heartless bastard that he usually was; back to being the Order's heartless puppet.

But for now, while he was still having a warm body pressed against his back, he just wanted to rest, to forget about everything and enjoyed the comfortable moment while it lasted.

For now, he just wanted to savor the warmth.**  
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**-NeverEnding-**

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**A/N**: Reviews keep me alive, dearies, so please do! Thanks for reading ^^  
Just one more to go. For the last theme, I'll be using a different style coz it's Kanda's birthday. I want it to be special. Please look forward to it :D


	6. Not Quite Sleeples Nights

**Title:** Not Quite Sleepless Nights

**Author:** a1y-puff

**Fandom:** D. Gray-Man

**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen

**Genre:** General/friendship-leaning-shippy?

**Summary: **Allen had developed a new habit. Snapshots on how he spent his sleepless nights.

**Word Count: **3200

**Warning: **Unbetaed.A little bit of swearing as usual.

**Disclaimer: **I would not survive the deadlines those poor mangaka have to accomplish. I barely survived this Yullen Week, you know. So no, I do not own.

**A/N:** HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANDA!!! Anyway, since today is Kanda's birthday, I wanted to make this special, so I just try this snapshot/drabble-ish approach, which is kind of my favorite writing style and it worked fairly well for my other OTP in another fandom, but I don't know how well it would work on this pairing, you will have to tell me ^^.

Oh, and I'm not sure I convey the theme right… but It's all I can think of coz my brain is fried from having to write six fics in a short time XD;;

Without further ado, I hope you'd enjoy~

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**- NOT QUITE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS -**

_Yullen Week, Day 6_

_Theme: Night Out_

_Setting: Canon_

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**-/ Meditation /-**

The first time Allen had developed the habit was not long after they had come back from the Ark. It was after he had been told he was carrying a Noah inside him and was to be 'watched'. He had felt like losing his freedom by being supervised 24/7 and having another presence inside his head surely didn't help making things better.

He couldn't sleep at night, feeling constantly being watched, even when Link was facing the other way in the futon next to his bed. The slightest movement caught the inspector's ear, and Allen didn't like that. So one night, he got out of his bed, wordlessly stepped out of his room and said nothing when the blonde man followed.

Somehow Allen ended up in the training room, and found Kanda meditating in one side of the room.

If the older teen had sensed his presence, he said nothing about it, not even when Allen sat down beside him.

From the corner of his eyes, Allen could see Link settled on the other side of the room, and he was glad that at least the inspector gave him a breathing room. The British then glanced at Kanda, who was as still and silent as a statue and Allen couldn't tell if the other was meditating or sleeping, but either way, he decided not to bother the Japanese more than he already had by intruding Kanda's personal space.

So he decided to mimic Kanda's pose and meditate, concentrating on the silent night, the faint sound of the wind outside, the sound of his breathing and Kanda's that didn't match each other… and Allen frowned at that. It didn't sound nice to his ears, so he tried to synchronize his breathing with the older teen. Breathing in, out, in—hold on, Kanda was exhaling. Ah, now—out again. He found the rhythm of their breathing and followed it religiously.

Slowly, he could finally feel calm and got some of his peace of mind. He felt like he was floating; his body and soul felt light, no more nagging thought, no more burden, no more…

And finally, he fell asleep.

The next thing he knew, he was awoken from being shoved up none-too-gently, and he blinked his eyes open, only to see Kanda stood up.

"If you want to sleep, go crash on your bed, idiot, don't sleep on me!"

Allen only stared in confusion at the Japanese who was exiting the room, before standing up as he too, made his way to the exit. When he looked questioningly at Link, the inspector shortly explained, "You fell asleep while meditating. Quite literally _fell,_on Yuu Kanda's lap."

Those silver eyes widened considerably, and he wondered why he was still alive.

Allen decided that maybe Kanda was too sleepy to skin him alive at this ungodly hour.

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**-/ Smiles /-**

Kanda wondered why people tend to go to him when they're under pressure. First Lenalee, and now the Beansprout too. Just throw the stupid rabbit here too and his life would surely be more than just annoying. Where did he go wrong in making himself be unapproachable? Why did these people keep attaching themselves to him anyway?

Those were Kanda's thought as he glared up at a certain white haired brat as said brat entered the training ground. He had let him be the first time, but after the raid on their headquarter and they had to move to a new building, in an infrequent interval the bean sprout always made sure to disturb his late night meditation, and Kanda had made it a routine to glare at the arrival of the stupid bean.

"You're here again, Sprout?" Kanda growled.

"And so are you," Allen lightly replied, and Kanda thought that the younger boy might be too dense to be scared by him.

Or they had spent too much time together that his venom no longer had effect on the brat.

_Che_.

"Should I ask why you always have to disturb my fucking peace?"

"No, you shouldn't."

Kanda cracked an eye open and turned his head to the left to find the brat smirking. He closed his eye again and fumed inwardly. Damn brat, did he have no fear for him?

Of course not. If he had, the brat wouldn't even be here in the first place, let alone kept bothering him like it was his life purpose to do so. Really, since when did this kid dare to bother him like this? Had he gone too soft to the bean? Why had he gone soft in the first place anyway?

"Kanda, you're scowling. Aren't you supposed to be meditating?"

Kanda's brow twitched. "And you're supposed to be meditating too, brat, not watching me," he retorted.

"I can't concentrate," Allen replied rather sulkily.

The samurai che'd at him before saying, "You're that stupid you don't even know how to concentrate?"

"Can't help it," the younger boy's tone sounded nonchalant, "This guy in my head won't shut up."

Kanda open his eyes fully now to study the British's face; it was twisted in a somewhat bitter smile, which didn't reach his eyes. Kanda sighed. As if his fake smiles weren't bad enough; this one is downright _ugly._ Why bother smiling if what he really wanted was to just scream out in frustration?

"Tell the guy I said 'fuck off'," Kanda finally responded.

He could see Allen blinked at him, before a light chuckle escaped his pale lips and then it subsided and turned into one genuine smile.

Now that was better.

Not that Kanda liked any of the Beansprout's smiles, of course.

* * *

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**-/ Wall /-**

Pressure. Burden. The world on his shoulders. The very same world that didn't seem to be appreciating his efforts, his sincerity to protect it, by kept throwing him its cruel jokes again and again. Sometimes, Allen wondered if it was really foolish of him to be carrying these weights on his small, slender shoulders. Alone.

But he had decided that it was what he wanted to do—_needed_to do. He had decided to become an exorcist—it was his own choice, right?—and this was the path that he should be walking on, with all the consequences.

Still, there were times that he felt it was too much for him. And at times like those he felt like he needed to talk, to share the burden he was carrying. But he couldn't talk to any of his friends, not when they would worry, and probably be scared because he was supposed to be their 'Destroyer of Time', their _savior_. He wasn't supposed to break down.

So he could only talk to a wall. Preferably, a wall that wouldn't just stare back at him impassively; a wall that had ears that could actually listen to him.

A wall by the name of Yuu Kanda.

It wasn't that often, but at times, when he really felt the need to let some burdens off his shoulders, he would bother Kanda—late at night in the training room—not only by his presence but also by his words, his voice. Funny thing was, sometimes it just happened without him meaning to.

He would always speak quietly; his words came out nearly as a whisper because he didn't want the inspector at the other side of the room to hear him and wrote down what he said only to report it to the higher-ups.

At times like this, when the white haired boy didn't bicker with him and actually talked about serious stuff like his problems—about his master's last words, about Mana, about the path he was walking in, about the fourteenth renting a place in his head, or sometimes the combination of those—Kanda never said a word. Not a word. He never responded to anything Allen had to say, just like the cold, impassive wall.

And just as coldly, once Allen had finished talking Kanda would stand up and leave the boy to his own devices.

But not before landing his big, warm hand on Allen's white head, ruffling the snowy locks rather roughly.

See? _This_ wall did listen.

* * *

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**-/ Flowers /-**

Third exorcist. Another crap the fucking higher-ups had come up with. Just what the hell was going on in their heads to create such _creatures _anyway? Turning humans into half-akuma? Sacrificing humanity for the sake for the war? That was just nonsense. Hadn't they had enough yet from their experiment nine years ago? Sure, he was rather a successful product, but it came with a price. A huge deal of a price.

He had long since not minding about this, had long since putting aside that his strength was pretty much unnatural, had long since coming to terms that he was different than the other exorcists, and thus acted accordingly, building a barrier separating him from other human beings — but apparently, even his barrier had been infiltrated by _certain_ people who claimed themselves as his _friends_.

But this third exorcist crap had awakened some things that he had buried deep down inside, memories that he had locked far away at the back of his head.

And those flowers… those illusions that had merged into the surroundings—they were still there, but Kanda barely paid attention to them—had now started popping out of the background, screaming for him to notice them, mocking him for noticing them, especially when he was alone.

Like now.

He could see those flowers cramping up the wide, spacious training ground; blossoming here, withering there, gathering in the corner, hanging on the ceiling, crowding his field of vision…

Kanda tried to ignore them—hell, he tried hard—but he couldn't. Not after he had notice that his own lotus had lost another petal, slowly wilting inside the hourglass in his room.

His time was running out…

"Kanda? Are you spacing out?"

The voice snapped Kanda back to reality, and he glanced forward to see the bean sprout standing in front of him. Right, he was still standing himself when he should've been meditating by now.

Damn flowers.

"Wow, you really did space out. Is something wrong?" the younger asked, and Kanda could hear the worry in that tenor voice.

The long haired teen just looked at Allen for a few seconds, before sighing and sitting down on the floor, arranging his limbs to his usual meditating position. "Shut up, brat. It's not something kids should worry about," he finally responded, making sure to sound mocking.

"What? Who are you calling a 'kid'?" Allen protested while sitting down on his usual place beside him.

"Oh right, my bad. You're not a kid, you're a bean sprout."

"I am _not,_ BaKanda!"

"Shut up, Beansprout. I'm trying to meditate here."

"The name's Allen! A-L-L-E-N! How difficult is it to say, idiot?"

"I don't want to be called 'idiot' by an idiot."

"What? You're really, really—"

Kanda knew he wouldn't get to meditate when the stupid brat wouldn't even shut up, but he didn't want to shut up either. Because he had noticed that now that he was bickering with the bean sprout, the flowers were now left forgotten, merging into the background once more.

* * *

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**-/ Habit /-**

"Where's your stalker?"

Allen blinked up at the question as he just stepped into the training room. He saw Kanda was already sitting in his usual spot, and the British absently noticed how the long, raven hair was tied just behind his nape, tonight.

"Link's called to Central tonight, but I think he'll be back early in the morning."

He saw Kanda closed his eyes, probably went back to meditating, but then the Asian commented, "Rare chance of freedom, huh? Then why the hell are you here, Sprout?"

"The name's Allen, BaKanda. Gee, this is really getting old," Allen muttered as he sat himself down beside the Japanese, before continuing, "And I don't know why I'm even here. It's kind of… you know, I couldn't sleep, didn't know what to do and ended up here. It's become kind of a habit, I guess…"

Kanda just snorted at that, but made no further comment.

"Oh gee, so this is why you guys haven't been killing each other lately." The familiar voice made the two turned their heads towards the entrance, where a redhead was currently standing; grinning. "You've been having secret late night dates? But seriously, couldn't you guys think of a more romantic place than the dojo? It's kind of—"

Lavi didn't get to finish his words because in one second, Mugen was pressed to his throat.

"Say another shit and I'll cut your head off, stupid rabbit! And this brat doesn't come here every night," Kanda growled menacingly.

Allen just smiled at his friend in greetings, not moving from his meditating position, and said "We're just meditating, Lavi"

As soon as the samurai unsheathed his sword and settled back beside Allen, Lavi sat himself down in front of the two with curious eyes. "Well, I know Yuu-chan—("Don't fucking call me that!!" Kanda growled.)—always meditate here every night, but I didn't know you're occasionally joining him, Allen-chan. Especially now, when that two-pimple isn't stalking you, I thought you'd want some time alone?"

"Well… I blame it on the habit," Allen scratched his nose.

When the tallest of the three curiously raised an eyebrow, Kanda helpfully supplied, "He's just here to annoy me."

"Oh?" Lavi's face lit up. With a knowing smile, he asked, "And you haven't kicked him out yet?"

"He'd just come back like a stubborn puppy."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it sounds, Beansprout."

"Why you—"

"Now, now, calm down Allen-chan! It's just his way of saying how cute you are—"

"Do you want to die, fucking rabbit?!" Kanda snarled, his face reddened slightly and Allen couldn't tell whether it's from anger or embarrassment.

The first one is more likely, though.

"Anyway," Lavi said in between his attempt to release his throat from Kanda's hands, "What do you want as a birthday present this year, Yuu-chan?"

Kanda let go of the taller boy and sat back as he said, "I don't want any more of your freaking weird presents, and stop calling me that, you imbecile!"

"Kanda's birthday is coming up? When?" Allen inquired. Now that he thought about it, he really barely knew anything about the Japanese exorcist.

"Che. It's none of your bussi—"

"June 6, that's his birthday," Lavi cheerily informed, and added, "Make sure to prepare some gift, okay?"

"I. Don't. Need. Any!" Kanda barked.

It was still about a month away, and Allen made a mental note to give something to show his gratitude to the older boy for keeping him company—or at least, not kicking him out—all these times.

* * *

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**-/ Gift /-**

The night breeze softly hit his face, playing with his long, unbound hair. Kanda sat in the middle of a clearing in the forest within the headquarters, wearing his white cardigan to shield him from the cool wind. From last year's experience, Kanda had decided it was best not to be in his room on the night of his birthday because who knew what that stupid rabbit would do to him.

So here he was now meditating alone under the stars.

He heard footsteps and promptly opened his eyes, scanning the area for the source of the sounds, when suddenly a voice called out, "Kanda? There you are. I was looking for you but you weren't in the dojo or your room, or anywhere in the building."

Kanda merely raised an eyebrow as the bean sprout clad in his black cardigan settled himself to his right, before inquiring, "What do you want?"

"That's not very friendly," Allen lightly commented, and Kanda only glared at him, thinking that the brat ought to know that 'friendly' was not a word to be associated with him.

Sighing, the samurai closed his eyes again and asked, "Where's your watchdog?"

"I ditched him. He's probably looking for me now."

Kanda turned his head to see the younger boy grinning sheepishly at him, and he cocked an eyebrow in response. "You're getting yourself into trouble, Sprout."

"My position sucks anyway," the 'sprout' nonchalantly shrugged, before turning his gaze up to the starry sky.

Kanda only looked at his companion, studying his seemingly serene face. It wasn't like Kanda cared—no, he certainly did _not_ care—but the somewhat faraway and detached look on Allen's face bothered him a little.

"What's wrong?" he finally relented and asked.

Allen just turned to look at him, but instead of answering, he said, "It's already June 6 now, right?"

Kanda merely arched an eyebrow, and he watched as the brat pulled something out of his pocket. The Japanese couldn't see what it was exactly, but whatever it was, it seemed to be made of metal. Then, Allen reached out his free hand to him, signaling him to give out his hand, palm up.

"What?"

Then, Allen put the object on Kanda's hand, before saying, "Happy aging day, BaKanda!"

Kanda frowned as he studied the object placed on his hand. It was a pocket watch. Made of silver with a simple design, yet it still looked elegant. Definitely not something cheap.

"Look, idiot, I told you I don't need gifts. Why are you spending money on this kind of things? If you have money, go pay your stupid debts," he reprimanded, moving his hand to return the gift, but Allen pushed his hand away.

"The debts are paying off, since there aren't any new debts since Master... _disappeared_," Allen started, and Kanda could catch the bitter tone behind the boy's statement.

"And I got it for you, BaKanda. It took me only a few rounds of poker. Don't worry," the younger exorcist grinned, then added, "Just accept it, okay? A 'thank you' would be nice, though."

Kanda just stared at the pocket watch in his hand and then to the stupidly grinning boy beside him, before he finally pocketing the watch, saying, "Stupid brat. It's not my fault you wanted to waste money on me."

"Prick," Allen pouted, but the next second, he was smiling as he eyed Kanda's pants pocket in which his gift currently resided.

"Whatever," Kanda made to stand up, but a hand caught his wrist. The taller teen turned to see Allen smiling.

"Let's stay here for a bit longer?"

On impulse, Kanda then ruffled the white locks rather harshly and commented, "You're such a kid."

"I am _not_ a kid, BaKanda," the kid complained, but he didn't pull away from Kanda's hand.

If anything, the older teen could feel Allen leaning to his touch.

So they just sat there quietly, enjoying the soft breeze teasing their hair while their eyes locked to the starry sky. Fingering the silver watch in his right pocket, Kanda thought that he would just humor this idiotic bean that just wasted his money over some stupid birthday present for him, by treasuring the gift.

And maybe, he would also treasure the brat who gave it.

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****-NeverEnding-**

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**A/N: **So... um yeah, they're havng night outs... in the training ground (well, they're outside their rooms!) *bricked*. Hehe, if it didn't work, well... in the last snapshot, they were outside, right? hawhaw... *is shot*

Anyway, it's doooone!!! yayness. Whew, I really liked writing in this snapshot/drabblish style, for some reason. Did you enjoy this one? Please let me know. ^^

It marks the end of Yullen Week, I'm sad that it's ending, but it was really fun! I hope you guys enjoyed what I've written so far, and if you do, please let me know through **reviews**. They are precious to me ^___^

Thanks so much for reading!


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